The Blagdon Liberty 200 Solar Pump comes in a fairly comprehensive kit that includes the pump and solar unit together with a set of extension tubes, LED lights, adaptors, float and fountain heads. That means you can probably make it work in a wide variety of situations but the pump itself is small and not particularly powerful and best suited to smaller ponds or water features. The spray from the fountain is effective but it’s quite weak and even at its widest setting wouldn’t have a footprint wider than about a metre. The pump itself is quite small and fits in the palm of your hand, it’s also lightweight and comes with a foam float and an anchor – a small mesh bag you fill with stones and tie to the pump. That means you can position it below the surface of the water without touching the bottom of the pond, so sitting in the clearest water avoiding any leaves or debris on the surface and the sludge on the bottom.

The LED light ring can be positioned around the fountain head so it lights the spray above. It’s not particularly bright but it’s a cute feature and adds a bit of sparkle. The light comes on automatically at dusk, there’s a sensor built into the solar unit, and it’s a bit preemptive coming on quite early and well before it’s really dark. To be honest the light’s only really effective when it’s dark outside but usually the power has run out before it gets that late.

The solar unit is a much chunkier and heavier unit, thanks to the inbuilt rechargeable batteries, and comes with a simple mounting bracket and spike you drive into the soil. There’s also a bracket for attaching the solar unit to a wall but in both cases the unit just clips into a grooved mount and is only held there by gravity, it just lifts on and off and isn’t particularly secure although in one respect this is handy because the control buttons are on the back and you might need access to them. You can choose to have the fountain (and/or the LED light ring) switch on automatically for the same four hours per day or to come on whenever there’s enough charge in the battery to run it, staying on until it runs out of power again.

Inevitably the solar unit needs to be carefully positioned and angled to get the maximum direct sunlight every day. Ours has a clear south-facing aspect but only generates enough power to keep the fountain going continuously on the sunniest days. On cloudy days it will switch on for an hour or so then go off for another couple of hours, repeating that during daylight hours. It doesn’t come on immediately at dawn, it has to charge up the battery for about 3 hours (on sunny days) before beginning. On sunny days the solar unit generates enough charge to light the LED’s at dusk and keep the fountain and lights on for a couple of hours at most.

If you need a fountain for a small water feature this is a worthwhile kit and you’ll probably be able to get something effective going with minimum fuss. The throughput of water is so slight that it will probably only help oxygenate water in the smallest ponds or features. In a bigger pond it looks good but a bit underpowered. It’s disappointing the solar unit can’t generate more power and keep it running for longer on dull days, but it’s a nice addition to your garden although it seems a bit pricey at full retail.