Drinkwell - is it always this noisy??

I went to Petsmart today for some cans of food, and came out with the food, some catnip spray, a 12 pack of fur mice, and the drinkwell fountain! I'm a sucker!

In any case, I set the fountain up and it seems to be a big hit with Belle and Delilah. As a toy at very least. There's water all over the bathroom floor, but that's no surprise.

I had the Petmate Freshflow previously, and it was silent (but of course, the cats had no interest!). The Drinkwell is NOISY. It's not so much the motor (which does seem slightly louder than the Freshflow, but I can't hear it outside of the bathroom, so it's no big deal), as it is the water falling and hitting the water already in the bowl. I filled it right to the brim and reduced the flow a bit, which seems to have lessened the noise somewhat. However, it still sounds as if there is a tap constantly running.

Does anyone have the drinkwell and NOT notice this noise? Or is it something I'm going to have to learn to live with (something tells me there's no way to silence falling water!)? Does the platinum version reduce this noise at all?

Also, does everyone use the filters with there Drinkwell fountains, or do people out there run them without? Right now, I'm using bottled water from our water cooler and haven't put the filter in (in case I want to return the fountain).

It's a fountain, so you'll always hear the water! We don't use any water fountain since we've moved back into the RV, but at the house our kitties didn't even notice the petmate, but LOVED the drinkwell. Didn't notice the motor was nosier. I think the falling water (like a waterfall) was what attracted them to drink more. Three of our kitties have UTI blockage issues, so our vet recommended we use distilled water, which we did. And we always used the filters, because they capture dust that gets in there (and the bits of food Ming Loy would drop in there ).

Laurie

Originally Posted by LDG

It's a fountain, so you'll always hear the water!

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You can't hear the water on the petmate or cat-it as it runs down a ramp/dome. One reason I didn't get a drinkwell is as you've said - it sounds like a tap running.

I don't use filters in the fountains I have, just use bottled or filtered water.

I have a Drinkwell Platinum. The water stream hits the plastic ramp, not the water, and I don't really notice the sound. What's louder is the vibration between the main unit and the reservoir, but I've found that keeping the reservoir full reduces that noise.

Originally Posted by laureen227


i don't use filters, because i often add lysine to the water, & i don't want it filtered out.

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That's one of the reasons I don't want to use filters (other than them being expensive). I would like to put tartar control solution in and don't want it to get filtered out.

Thanks for the input everyone. I turned the stream down the the lowest setting and it makes only a slight splashing noise now. I've learned to tune it out already.

Now, if only I get the bathroom floor dry and to stay dry!!

I have a Drinkwell & a Petmate Fresh Flow. Don't use filters in either.

I can hear our drinkwell ( I guess I'm used to it), but it can be adjusted to make the flow less forceful (and less noisy). My only complaint is that the little thingy you use to adjust it is under the waterline

Originally Posted by Dave_L

I have a Drinkwell Platinum. The water stream hits the plastic ramp, not the water, and I don't really notice the sound. What's louder is the vibration between the main unit and the reservoir, but I've found that keeping the reservoir full reduces that noise.

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It's interesting but I just took our first Platinum back to shop, and I was laughing when I read this listening to the second one. I think this second one has way louder water-noise than the first one. However, the motor noise sounds normal.

The first one went back because there must have been something wrong and I did not want to deal with it. At first it was nice and quiet but then it started whining. I cleaned it but it did not improve, it actually worsened. I varied the amount of water in the reservoir to test whether it was just related to the water level but when the noise again got worse after the second cleaning I decided it was not related to water level nor to cleanliness-level and took it back to exchange it.

However, like said, I now feel like this second one has quiet motor but the water hits harder on the basin even on the lowest setting. Guess the other one did not move the water with same force!