# What's the tallest human-made water spout possible? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 2, 2011, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-tallest-human-made-water-spout-possible/604819 "2011-12-02T09:17:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-tallest-human-made-water-spout-possible/604819/1 "2011-12-02T09:17:26Z")
You dig a hole, insert your super fountain with nozzle, and let 'er rip. How high does the water go? How does it work? Can you get a short burst of water up higher than a steady stream? ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-tallest-human-made-water-spout-possible/604819/2 "2011-12-02T09:46:11Z")
Likely the Bellagio fountains made by a company called WET Design. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-tallest-human-made-water-spout-possible/604819/3 "2011-12-02T19:12:22Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > Likely the Bellagio fountains made by a company called WET Design. Super Shooters - send a water blast as high as 240 ft (73 m) in the air. Hmm. That’s it? If the nations of the world put all their resources into a super shooter, they couldn’t do better? ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-tallest-human-made-water-spout-possible/604819/4 "2011-12-02T19:35:34Z")
The Warner Lawrence, a firefighting boat in Los Angeles, can shoot water 400 feet in the air ETA: Not sure if thats 400ft straight up ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-tallest-human-made-water-spout-possible/604819/5 "2011-12-02T23:55:28Z")
The [Captain Cook memorial](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_James_Cook_Memorial) in Canberra includes a water jet which can reach a maximum height of 147 metres (approx 482 feet). ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-tallest-human-made-water-spout-possible/604819/6 "2011-12-02T23:58:52Z")
I was imagining some power source so powerful and a tower of water so high that drops could freeze at the top. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-tallest-human-made-water-spout-possible/604819/7 "2011-12-05T05:13:31Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > I was imagining some power source so powerful and a tower of water so high that drops could freeze at the top. I would think in some locations in winter the freezing would occur lower down in the spout. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-tallest-human-made-water-spout-possible/604819/8 "2011-12-05T06:05:15Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > The [Captain Cook memorial](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_James_Cook_Memorial) in Canberra includes a water jet which can reach a maximum height of 147 metres (approx 482 feet). Wow. Combine that with the Washington Monument, and I’ll have my own memorial. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-tallest-human-made-water-spout-possible/604819/9 "2011-12-05T08:18:59Z")
Angel Falls has a plunge of about 800m where the water ends up as mist before it hits the ground, so even if it does not freeze the main spout will “disappear”. ---
**Author:** ![Panurge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-tallest-human-made-water-spout-possible/604819/10 "2011-12-05T12:28:11Z")
According to [the Wikipedia page on fountains](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fountains) the highest fountain in the world is King Fahd’s Fountain in Jeddah that shoots water 260 m (853 ft) into the air. Lots of info on historical fountains as well. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-tallest-human-made-water-spout-possible/604819/11 "2011-12-05T12:32:34Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > I was imagining some power source so powerful and a tower of water so high that drops could freeze at the top. I was imagining a guy, lying on his back, who really had to pee. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-tallest-human-made-water-spout-possible/604819/12 "2011-12-05T15:34:56Z")
This seems to be seeking a factual answer. Moving from IMHO to General Questions. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-tallest-human-made-water-spout-possible/604819/13 "2011-12-05T17:32:56Z")
I put it IMHO because I figured the responses would amount to WAGs, speculation, theories, and educated guesses, not facts. It doesn’t really matter to me either way though. ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-tallest-human-made-water-spout-possible/604819/14 "2011-12-05T17:50:11Z")
Not really what the OP is looking for, but the turbopumps on a RS-25 (Space Shuttle/SLS main engine) could reportedly, in theory, shoot liquid hydrogen 36 miles (57 km) up. [http://www.pw.utc.com/products/pwr/propulsion\_solutions/ssme.asp](http://www.pw.utc.com/products/pwr/propulsion_solutions/ssme.asp) ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-tallest-human-made-water-spout-possible/604819/15 "2011-12-05T18:04:24Z")
> [@Panurge](#): > > According to [the Wikipedia page on fountains](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fountains) the highest fountain in the world is King Fahd’s Fountain in Jeddah that shoots water 260 m (853 ft) into the air. Actually, that link says that this may have been surpassed: > [@](#): > > The Dubai Fountain, opened in 2009 next to next to Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, at 275 m long is the world’s largest musical fountain. The fountain was originally built to send bursts of water to a height of 150 meters or 492 feet. in January 2010 the owners announced the height of the bursts had been increased to 275 meters, or 902.2 feet. ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-tallest-human-made-water-spout-possible/604819/16 "2011-12-05T19:26:02Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > Actually, that link says that this may have been surpassed: > > > [@](#): > > > > The Dubai Fountain, opened in 2009 next to next to Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, at 275 m long is the world’s largest musical fountain. The fountain was originally built to send bursts of water to a height of 150 meters or 492 feet. in January 2010 the owners announced the height of the bursts had been increased to 275 meters, or 902.2 feet. IMO, the worst possible spot to install the world’s tallest fountain is next to a skyscraper that’s about 3 times its height. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-tallest-human-made-water-spout-possible/604819/17 "2011-12-05T20:46:14Z")
The best possible spot, of course, being on _top_ of that skyscraper.