Decorative Water Features, Incl Man-made Ponds & Fountains
Twenty years of CPSC NEISS emergency-room records for this consumer product category, combined with demographic breakdowns, multi-year injury trends, and matching recall notices.
Lawn & Garden Equipment · CPSC Code 1466
Down 27% over 5 years
The verdict
Decorative Water Features, Incl Man-made Ponds & Fountains carry a danger score of 37/100 (low risk), driven by roughly 2,088 ER-treated injuries a year that are declining by about 27% over the last five years.
- 37/100
- danger score (low risk)
- 2,088
- ER visits per year (avg)
- 7.5%
- end in hospital admission
- 0-4
- most-injured age group
Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 1466 - last data year 2024.
PlainSafety danger score
How this 37/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for decorative water features, incl man-made ponds & fountains - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume2,088 ER visits/yr
- Severity (hospitalization rate)7.5%
- Fatality rate0.49%
- 5-year trend-27%
See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Decorative Water Features, Incl Man-made Ponds & Fountains (CPSC product code 1466, in the Lawn & Garden Equipment category) generate an estimated 2,088 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 33,409 ER-treated injuries across the 16-year span from 2009 to 2024. PlainSafety derives a danger score of 37/100 for this category (low risk), combining raw injury volume, demographic reach, severity of outcome, and multi-year trend. The five-year trajectory shows that injury counts are declining by about 27% over the last five years, with the busiest year on record being 2016 (2,719 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2021 (1,233 estimated visits).
The single most common ER diagnosis for decorative water features, incl man-made ponds & fountains is internal injury to the head, accounting for approximately 3,264 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by laceration to the face (2,653 cases). The 0-4 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 6,200 cases over the NEISS window, and males appear slightly more often than the opposite sex in that cohort. Severity outcomes from the NEISS disposition field show that 7.5% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer, and a small fraction (0.49%) result in fatality.
Beyond the hospital-sampled NEISS projections, this page also aggregates 0 consumer incident reports filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 20 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how decorative water features, incl man-made ponds & fountains fail in real households. Every figure on this page comes from CPSC-published data: NEISS projects national estimates from a probability sample of about 100 U.S. hospital emergency departments, while SaferProducts.gov collects voluntary reports from consumers, manufacturers, and clinicians. The danger score, trend indicators, and demographic breakdowns update automatically when CPSC releases a new yearly NEISS file, which is why this page is dated 2024-12-31. For regulatory context, consult CPSC recall notices and the SaferProducts.gov public database linked below.
Annual Injury Estimates (2009–2024)
Source: CPSC NEISS national estimates CPSC NEISS national estimates Injuries represent ER-treated cases only
Who Gets Injured?
| Age Group | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-4 | 3,954 | 2,246 | |
| 5-14 | 3,481 | 1,914 | |
| 15-24 | 1,505 | 997 | |
| 25-34 | 785 | 1,077 | |
| 35-44 | 1,985 | 909 | |
| 45-54 | 1,615 | 1,312 | |
| 55-64 | 1,452 | 1,903 | |
| 65-74 | 1,838 | 2,012 | |
| 75+ | 1,782 | 2,640 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Head | Internal Injury | |
| Face | Laceration | |
| Head | Laceration | |
| Lower Trunk | Strain, Sprain | |
| Finger | Laceration | |
| Foot | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Toe | Fracture | |
| Lower Trunk | Other | |
| Lower Leg | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Upper Trunk | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Face | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Head | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Lower Leg | Laceration | |
| Foot | Laceration | |
| Lower Leg | Fracture |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
46YOM COMPLAINS OF LOW BACK PAIN AFTER PICKING UP A DECORATIVE YARD BIRD BATH. DX: LOW BACK PAIN
60YOM ACCIDENTALLY SLIPPED AND FELL INTO THE RETENTION POND LANDING IN HIS LEFT -SIDED BODY INJURING HIS LEFT KNEE AND WRIST. DX: CONTUSION KNEE INTIAL LEFT, SPRAIN WRIST INITIAL LEFT, CONTUSION SHOULDER INTIASL LEFT, LOW BACK STRAIN
42 YOM LOW BACK PAIN LIFTING A FOUNTAIN DX; LOW BACK PAIN
94 YOM LOST BALANCE AND FELL WORKING ON HIS BIRDBATH AT HOME DX; R RAIDUS FX, R HAND LAC
75YOF, CO PAIN & BRUISING LEFT FOT 3RD TOE AFTER STUMPING TOE ON WATER FOUNTAIN DX: DISLOCATED TOE, TOE INFECTION
79YOF FALL ONTO A METAL BIRD BATH, RIB PAIN DX: CONTUSION OF RIGHT BREAST, RIB PAIN OF RIGHT SIDE
22YOM PRESENTS TO THE ED AFTER THE PATIENT GRADUATED, WENT OUT TO CELEBRATE WITH FRIENDS DRINKING +ETOH BAC UNK, DECIDED TO DO A BACKFLIP INTO THE***FOUNTAIN AND MISSED COMPLAINING OF FALLING WITH HEAD LACERATION. DX: CLOSED HEAD INJURY, SCALP LACERATION
22YOM PRESENTS TO THE ED AFTER THE PATIENT WENT DRINKING +ETOH BAC UNK WITH FRIENDS, THEN JUMPED INTO THE ***FOUNTAIN AND FELL ONTO KNEES COMPLAINING OF LACERATION. DX: LEG LACERATION, THIGH LACERATION
3YOM TO ER PAIN OF RIGHT LEG, PT DROPPED THE TOP OF A BIRD BATH ON HIS RIGHT LOWER EXTREMITY, X 1 DAY, XR AY AT UC YESTERDAY WAS NEGATIVE, PT PLAYED TODAY & THEN SAT DOWN & CRIED DX PAIN RIGHT LOWER LEG, CLOSD FRACTURE OF SHAFT OF RIGHT TIBIA
89 YOM FELL AT HOME IN YARD HIT BIRD BATH DX SCALP LACERATION
56 YOM WAS DRINKING ALCOHOL THIS EVENING, SLIPPED AND HIT HIS HEAD ON A BIRDBATH. NO BAL. DX: LACERATION OF LEFT EARLOBE, PAIN LEFT SHOULDER
42YOM WITH FALL OFF A LADDER, HITTING A FOUNTAIN DX: CHEST PAIN
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to decorative water features, incl man-made ponds & fountains on the CPSC website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are decorative water features, incl man-made ponds & fountains?
Based on 20 years of CPSC data, decorative water features, incl man-made ponds & fountains have a danger score of 37/100 (low risk). An estimated 2,088 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.
What are the most common injuries from decorative water features, incl man-made ponds & fountains?
The most common injury is internal injury to the head, accounting for approximately 3,264 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from decorative water features, incl man-made ponds & fountains increasing or decreasing?
Down 27% over 5 years.
Who is most at risk for decorative water features, incl man-made ponds & fountains injuries?
The 0-4 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 6,200 cases recorded over 20 years. Males are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by decorative water features, incl man-made ponds & fountains?
Of all ER visits involving decorative water features, incl man-made ponds & fountains, approximately 7.5% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (92.5%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with decorative water features, incl man-made ponds & fountains?
You can file a consumer incident report at SaferProducts.gov, the official CPSC reporting portal. Reports help the CPSC identify emerging hazards and trigger investigations or recalls. You can also call the CPSC hotline at 1-800-638-2772.
Related Products in Lawn & Garden Equipment
Safety Guides
What this means for you
Treat the 37/100 score as relative risk between products, not your personal odds of injury.
- See where this category ranks against every other tracked product. Full rankings
- Injuries cluster in the 0-4 age group, take extra care if that describes your household.
- Check for active recalls on this product before you assume it is safe. CPSC recalls
NEISS estimates ER-treated injuries from a national probability sample of hospitals; they do not capture injuries treated elsewhere or not treated at all.
Data: CPSC National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) 2005–2024 and SaferProducts.gov consumer incident reports. Injury estimates are based on a nationally representative probability sample of U.S. hospital emergency departments. This page is for informational purposes only and is not affiliated with the CPSC.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, scored, and verified.
