It is a DIY setup. Basically is a sink bowl with the logic of a sump pump with high/low floats (couple of relays and sensors), a fountain pump to drain to a nearby sink, and a valve to fill. The timer drains the water every hour and the fill part is essentially a cheap shower head aimed at an angle so when it is draining and filling at the same time the water is swirling, making it (mostly) self-cleaning. I wipe the inside and outside every week or so just to make sure it is working and isn’t growing anything.
Biggest worry since it is DIY is that something will fail and flood my house. I have a separate high level sensor that closes the valve, starts the pump, and sounds an alarm to help with that, and one of those cheap, warbling 9v water sensors nearby just in case.
(image from Wikimedia)
It is a DIY setup. Basically is a sink bowl with the logic of a sump pump with high/low floats (couple of relays and sensors), a fountain pump to drain to a nearby sink, and a valve to fill. The timer drains the water every hour and the fill part is essentially a cheap shower head aimed at an angle so when it is draining and filling at the same time the water is swirling, making it (mostly) self-cleaning. I wipe the inside and outside every week or so just to make sure it is working and isn’t growing anything.
Biggest worry since it is DIY is that something will fail and flood my house. I have a separate high level sensor that closes the valve, starts the pump, and sounds an alarm to help with that, and one of those cheap, warbling 9v water sensors nearby just in case.