Today, I’m excited to share a project that was fun, functional, and aesthetically pleasing. It adds a touch of rustic charm to our barnyard, too. I built a solar-powered water filter & fountain for our horses’ trough, complete with soothing water sounds. The movement of water prevents mosquito larvae while the filter helps catch all the horses’ backwash. While we do manually clean & fill this trough still, we have to do a full dump & scrub much less frequently than before…and no more mosquito larvae.
Materials Used:
- 100 gal. Oval Galvanized Stock Tank (which already had a threaded drain plug to connect to standard water hose fitting)
- PVC Pipe and adapters (local hardware store)
- Hose Valve
- Hose Quick Connect Coupler
- 12v Submersible Water Pump
- 100 watt solar panel & charger
- Tactical Ammo/Utility Box (but you can get one cheaper at Harbor Freight)
- 12v Battery
- Low Voltage Disconnect
- Battery Meter
- 12 volt Timer
- Toggle On/Off Switches (those are similar to what I had, but these might look better)
- Charcoal Filter
- Sponge Filter
- Empty container for filter components and rocks to weight it down (you could also buy a box for a filter like this.)
Getting Started
I knew I needed a pump that could provide enough pressure to spray multiple streams while running on a 12-volt system. After some research, I found a submersible pump rated for 16 feet vertical lift and 800 liters per hour, with threaded inlets and outlets. This pump was more powerful than necessary for this project, but I wanted the flexibility to create a water wall if the concept worked out.
The pump I used: 12v Submersible Water Pump
An alternate that we looked at: 12v Solar Hot Water Circulation Pump
Setting Up the Solar Power System
The next step was setting up a solar charger for a small 12-volt battery to power the system. I used a 100-watt solar panel with a simple solar charger, wiring it into the battery with an on/off toggle switch I had on hand. The switch, rated for 3 amps at 125 volts, seemed like overkill for a 12-volt system, so I felt confident it would handle the job without issues.
I housed everything in a Tactical Ammo/Utility Box, which fit the battery perfectly and provided a protected compartment for the switches and battery display.
Wiring and Safety Features
To control the fountain power, I added another on/off switch wired into a low voltage disconnect. This is crucial for protecting the battery from over-discharging, which can damage or decrease its lifespan. Additionally, I installed a battery meter and a 12-volt timer. The timer allows me to schedule when the fountain runs and when it’s off, giving the horses some time to drink still water if they aren’t fans of moving water. The boys both drink from it while it is running, but Adee prefers her water still! We have our fountain run every other hour from 6am-9pm, but might have to shift that now that the days are longer.
Connecting the Solar Panel, Fountain, and Filter
I wired in two waterproof plugs onto the box for the solar panel power input and the fountain power output. Visually, they aligned with the toggle switches. Since this unit would be living outside, I really made sure to make it weather-proof and hopefully pest proof, too.
For the filter, I used an old animal cracker container from Costco, and layered in a charcoal aquarium filter and sponge filter. The bottom is lined with stones to keep it from floating, and there’s a hole that lines up with the drain plug.
Plumbing and Fountain Setup
From the back of the water trough, I added a 90-degree threaded elbow and a threaded pipe to hose thread adapter. I included a hose on/off valve to control the water flow when the fountain was disconnected. Using a hose quick connector set made it easy to detach the fountain assembly, simplifying the process of cleaning the trough.
I connected the fountain inlet to a PVC tee piece and attached the outlet to an adapter for the clear tubing I had. To support the fountain assembly, I added a magnet and used baling twine to relieve pressure from the threads. The PVC tee piece also provided an option to add a hose line for easy tank filling.
Final Adjustments
To attach the hose to the tank, I used 1-inch PVC pipe, cut into 2-inch lengths, and modified it to look like a “C” so it could snap onto the tank rim. I drilled holes in the PVC pieces for zip ties to secure the tube. After some trial and error, I figured out the optimal hole size to ensure the water streamed out without dripping or spraying excessively. I believe the final size was with an 1/8″ drill bit, but it might have been smaller. The number of holes directly affected the size needed for each hole.
For the solar panel, I put together a partial pallet to have a spot off the ground for the box. I made the panel a frame out of scrap wood, and propped it up to be angled towards the sun.
A couple of things that people have commented on:
Algae: it has been a month and a half, and while algae definitely grows in the tank after a week or so, nothing has grown yet in the tubing. I just added some copper wire to see if that helps the tank, but the horses wash their mouths out in this trough so there’s only so much we can do. TBD if the copper makes a difference!
Horses breaking it: while this is absolutely possible, even our troublemaking gelding has not attempted to break this setup. We credit it to them having tons else to do, and possibly some recently developed maturity that he might have finally experienced at 18 years young. Or maybe he just really likes the fountain – he has always been the one who loves drinking while I’m refilling the trough.
