LEBANON - Water is once again flowing from a giant faucet that appears to be floating in midair, and people passing by Jones Well Drilling between Lebanon and Sweet Home are happy.

Bert Jones built the fountain's first pool out of a 55-gallon metal drum in 1971. It features water that seems to pour unaided from a faucet suspended 9 feet in the air.

The display has been replaced three times, the latest rendition coming a few weeks ago, after the cedar-sided hot tub that had been in place for years collapsed.

"The fountain was down about four weeks and boy, did we get phone calls," said Bert's son, Bret Jones, who has worked in the family business all of his life. "People wanted to know what happened to it and if it was coming back."

The new pool is made from a 1,500-gallon rubber stock tank. The water faucet is the original, although it boasts a fresh coat of bright red paint.

"It's amazing how much attention this gets," said Bret's wife, Diane. "People will drive by, then turn around and come back so they can take a picture of it."

Once, while on vacation in Hawaii, the Joneses struck up a conversation with a couple from Montana who remembered driving by the fountain during a visit to Oregon.

Maintenance is minimal, Bret Jones said. In the warm summer months, chlorine is added to the water to deter algae growth. Although ice will form around the rim of the fountain in the winter, water flow keeps the main stream from faucet to tank from freezing up, he said.

A 1-horsepower pump keeps the water moving year round from the tank through a metal tube through the faucet head and back.

Every Halloween for the last 10 or 15 years, someone has put bubble bath into the fountain, Jones said.

"We came home this Halloween and I didn't see the bubbles," Jones said. "I have to admit, I was disappointed. It's harmless fun."

But sometime during the night, the deed was completed and Jones awoke to see an extra frothy display.

"We found two empty bubble bath bottles," Jones said. "They really did it up good this year. We had foam clear up to the faucet."

The Joneses have three sons, ages 9 to 14, and say someday they hope the boys will carry on the family fountain tradition.

Jones Well Drilling has nine employees and works throughout Linn, Benton and Marion counties.