You’ll Never Guess How Much Money We Throw Into Fountains Every Year

Make a wish!

How much money have you tossed hopefully into fountains in your life? $5? $10? Maybe even $100? (Hope some of those wishes are coming true, big spender.)

As it turns out, we collectively toss a whole lot of change into the world’s wishing wells.

Fountains Make Bank

Take, for instance, the beautiful lake in front of the famous Las Vegas Bellagio, which made $12,000 in 2010.

And Rome’s Trevi Fountain regularly makes $3,200… a day. That’s an annual salary well over $1 million.

Even smaller fountains — and those with explicit instructions not to throw money at them, please — pull in thousands of dollars every year.

Just for sitting there and being watery.

How’s that day rate of yours looking?

Wishes Without Waste

Good news: All that money you’re throwing away isn’t wasted.

Most of it’s going to various charitable causes, according to Buzzfeed. Some of it, like in New York City’s Bryant Park Fountain, just pays for itself to be dredged and cleaned.

So you can rest assured the money you spend on wishing wells isn’t a total loss.

However, for the best chance at making your wishes come true, we’d still recommend you hoard those pennies rather than chuck ‘em, no matter how lovely the fountain!

Your Turn: How much money have you spent on wishing wells in your lifetime?

Jamie Cattanach (@jamiecattanach) is a junior writer at The Penny Hoarder. She also writes other stuff, like wine reviews and poems.