Hmm. My suspicion is that I should be able to get it to work without the pump. On the other hand, maybe I should just get this just in case: http://www.amazon.com/Instapark%C2%AE-Solar-Garden-Fountain-Feature/dp/B001B48ZNS I've had shade structures the last couple years, but a lot of my friends got ...

Thanks for the fast response time. I'm coming out from the east coast, so I will be purchasing many of my supplies. I'm trying to figure out how I can build this as cheaply as possible. I'm thinking maybe setting up a drip system and running a fan on a small solar panel is the way to go.

I'd like to cut out the pump altogether. Do you think it would work to simply gravity feed the water down into the wicking at a slow drip?

Thanks for all the information.