I 'phoned for advice before making a purchase and I'm glad I did since this item does the job perfectly. Had I not spoken to someone first, I would probably have bought a different item. The pump (which arrived very promptly after placing the order) provides a slight disturbance to the surface of the water in a half barrel. The water swishing gently around makes a very pleasant sound - quite relaxing to listen to. If I wanted a fountain effect I could add a bit of pipe to the outlet and increase the rate of flow. It's only been a couple of weeks, so I can't comment on durability. The pump arrived without a plug - unusual these days but fortunately I'm old enough to remember when almost everything was bought without a plug attached and wiring a plug to it was not a problem.