Fountain at Cudahy Gardens in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Drinking fountain
Three traditional fountain features: a low jet, a pair of raised basins, and sculpture with a water theme, here hippocamps (Villa Borghese, Rome)
People often toss coins into fountains to make a wish
A traditional fountain is an arrangement where water issues from a source (Latin fons), fills a basin of some kind, and is drained away. Fountains may be wall fountains or free-standing. In fountains sheets of water may flow over varied surfaces of stone, concrete or metal. Basins may overflow from one into another, or the overflow may imitate a natural cascade. Many fountains are located in small, artificial, ornamental ponds, basins and formal garden pools, and often they include sculpture.
One of the most common features of a fountain, if there is enough pressure, is one or more jets, in which water is forced into the air under pressure to some height. A famous example of such a modern fountain rises from the surface of Lake Geneva.