called "sweeps" provide the moving effects, swaying side-to-side. A patented drive mechanism allows each pair of sweeps to follow or oppose each other in direction of movement, to move along long or short paths, and to move at any of three speeds, allowing the moving water to follow nearly any kind of music. The original show used punched paper cards, though computers control the new system. The nozzles and pumps have never been changed, only cleaned and cared-for; and shows must still be programmed by hand. In 1983 the fountain switched from punch tape to an Allen-Bradly PLC allowing for better control over the valves and lighting. The new control system also introduced using a Radio Shack TRS 80 Model 4 to program shows. Programmers were required to type special commands into a text editor, compile the show script, and then record it out through a 300 baud modem to a four track real-to-real tape unit. The maximum number of command that could be sent to the fountain we 12 per a second. This process took on average took over 200 hours to produce a single 20 minute performance. In September 2006, a new PC based programming and playback system was introduced. The Grand Haven Musical Fountain Animated Choreographer was released to the public to encourage the development of new shows and allowed programmers to visually choreograph the fountain. In addition, the new playback system allowed for more complex water and lighting effects by eliminating the need for tape playback by directly controlling the Allen-Bradly PLC. New shows now typically feature over 5000 water and lighting commands in a 20 min. performance. In 2017 the software was updated to take advantage on the new lighting and water effects, and is freely downloadable. Plumbing Width: 240 feet Water basin capacity: 40,000 gallons Pipe: 8,000 feet long ranging in size from ¼ inch to 16 inches Nozzles: 1,300 ranging from 3/16" to 1" in diameter, located in the basin Capacity: 40,000 gallon basin Water consumption: 4,000 gallons per minute Maximum height of spray: 125 feet Lighting New RGB LED Lighting (Introduced 2013 Season) Uses 32 RGB fixtures projecting light from the front and underneath Maximum power consumption of 2,400 watts (averages under 1000 watts) LED lighting uses 98% less power and is twice as bright LED lights can change color at 1/1000 of a second LED lights can produce 16 million colors