Water bowls emerged not long ago as a key element in the Water shaping Industry's ongoing campaign to bring dimension, sound and vitality to residential backyards and commercial settings. They go a long way toward masking traffic noise, which is cool, but even in a space that's perfectly quiet, they offer up soothing sounds while bringing a sense of variety and visual stimulation to projects of just about any size or extent. As with the many similar add-on features used with pools - from planters to fire bowls as well as combined water/fire and water/plant features - the designer has a responsibility to consider the big picture and make certain everything works with respect to scale and other factors related to the setting. The big point to be made here is that, more and more often, these water bowls are parts of a design that have what it takes to break through the planning stage and become part of the final product: They're versatile, affordable and generally easy to install- and they very often are just what it takes to bring a dose of "special" to a wide variety of settings.