Liquid display devices are utilized in a wide variety of visual entertainment applications including fountains, aquatic shows featuring trained marine animals, and amusement or theme park rides involving water. Typically, liquid (e.g., water) is discharged from a water display device in a continuous or intermittent spray or column to create the illusion of a sea spray, to produce a water fall, or to provide various other aesthetic effects. One type of water display device, for example, employs a continuous flow of pressurized water to produce a well-defined column of water. By periodically diverting the continuous flow of water, the water display device can periodically discharge discrete columns of water. Combining several of these water display devices in series creates the illusion that each device first catches a discharged column of water and then passes that same column of water to the next device. This type of water display device generally is limited to fountain applications and the like which provide a large water source for continuous recirculation. Additionally, this type of device involves continuous operation which may be undesirable for some applications and use carefully established, fixed trajectories (e.g., a trajectory to pass the water to the next such device in the series).
Other types of water display devices discharge a volume of water vertically for aesthetic displays in fountains or for giving the illusion of a geyser, whale spout, or the like. Typically, these displays and illusions have been created using a water-cannon device that employs compressed air to periodically blow water out of a tube or cylinder. As can be appreciated, the use of compressed air and a selected volume of water facilitates a controllable, intermittent discharge of water that may be desirable in water displays. However, the use of compressed air in water cannons generally results in a stream or spray of water that may quickly lose its shape or definition as the pressurized air freely mixes with the water in the tube and, more particularly, upon discharge from the water cannon.