The Foaming Fountain

Last week on the way to work, someone snapped a picture of a foaming fountain and posted it on Facebook. I felt a little out of it that I had no idea what a "foaming fountain" was...especially when comments started pouring in, showing everyone else knew exactly what it was.

A foaming fountain looks like this:



Or, if its owner is really unfortunate, this:



Apparently it's a popular prank. It happens when someone pours this:


Into this:


Under the Facebook post about the foaming fountain, there were posts laughing about the prank, along with a few posts about how damaging such a prank can be. I decided to research it. Does laundry detergent damage fountains? What about soap, bubble bath, and shampoo--also popular fountain saboteurs?  How could something so fun be bad?


First there's the fact that someone has to clean the mess up. I drove by our local foaming fountain two days later and the whole thing was completely shut down, so obviously that cleanup effort takes a while.


Then there's the danger to public safety if the foam spreads into an area where people walk and drive. This is especially significant since people tend to like to play in the overflow.


Worst of all, it can permanently damage the fountain, leading it to look like this for years...maybe forever:


What's the funniest prank you've ever seen?