The Impossible
Floating Tap
Company
Ten years of handmade floating tap water features. Six staple products. Customers across the globe.
Water pouring from thin air. It really does look like magic.
A tap suspended in mid-air. No visible pipe. No explanation. When you first see it, the rational part of your brain simply refuses to accept what your eyes are telling it.
The earliest known patent for a floating liquid illusion display was filed in 1991, for a commercial device designed to make liquid appear to pour from an unattached spigot (a tap). From there the concept spread, most famously to Aqualand in Spain, where El grifo mágico "The Magic Tap " became one of the most photographed landmarks on the Costa de la Luz.
Other giant versions followed: Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, public parks across Spain, Butlins in Skegness, Belgium, Switzerland, the United States, Canada. What started as an engineering curiosity became a global phenomenon.
After seeing how cool some of these things were in real life, we decided to attempt to make one of our own at home. It was a crude but successful first prototype. This gave us that same wow feeling its larger predecessors had done before. From there we began our journey of making these wonderful and interesting water features.
The first patent
The earliest known patent for a floating liquid illusion display is filed - a commercial-scale device for trade shows and exhibitions.
Theme parks take notice
Giant floating tap installations appear at water parks across Europe and beyond. They become landmarks - photographed by thousands of visitors.
The Magic At Home?
After seeing these gigantic taps we decided to bring the idea home and created our first very own hand made floating tap concept. Though more basic than what we provide now, the illusion was still incredible. At the time, domestic floating tap features were limited - hardly any similar products existed anywhere on the market. We saw an opportunity to build upon what was there, to attempt to create the best illusion possible, and ultimately provide our knowledge and experience to our customers, so they can have some magic in their garden too. We made something that will last years - using quality materials - built to last.
The range grows
Starting with a single design, the collection expands one feature at a time. The Valve. The Spring. The Cooper. The Grand. The Station. Each one still made by by hand from our small workshop.
Still focused. Still handmade.
Ten years on, every feature is still built, painted, tested and packed by hand in Oxfordshire. The plan hasn't changed - make the best floating tap water features available anywhere. Alongside the core range, bespoke commissions have taken the floating tap into places we never anticipated. Custom-built features for exhibitions and trade shows. Large-scale installations for world-renown high street retailers. Bespoke concepts for business and customers all over the world. The idea behind all of it has always been the same: create the best quality features we can, provide real value and a product that stands the test of time - whether from a back garden in Oxfordshire, a shop front or a stand at an international trade show.
One focus. No shortcuts.
We took what already existed, with the goal to do it our own way - and create something built to last, offered in a range of styles and colours, made with the mindset to always be improving.
One focus. Ten years.
No shortcuts. No compromise on quality.
Six staple features.
From Oxfordshire to everywhere.
Features from our collection have been installed in home gardens, pub courtyards, hotel lobbies, international expos, shop fronts, offices, ponds and lakes - and if the emails are anything to go by, quite a few Victorian stone sinks, repurposed cattle troughs, the corner of a swimming pool, and at least one very ambitious garden gnome display.
If it holds water, someone has probably tried it.
Every feature still leaves our hands.
Every feature that leaves us has been made by our hands. We test and pack every single order. From 2014 to now the same team the same goal. That hasn't changed and we don't intend it to.
Thank you for supporting something genuinely handmade with care.
The Impossible Floating Tap Company · Oxfordshire · Est. 2014Ready to see more?
Every feature is made to order. Pick your style, choose your colour, and we'll build it for you.
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