My current shower head has a fairly narrow pattern, at least downward, but the pumping power  not sure about. It may be ok though since I would be eliminating 6-7 feet of height. A shorter tower would definitely be a plus if it works out.

I was thinking maybe putting a cylindrical screen in the middle of the bong, kind of a tower within a tower, to help break up the water that hits the sides and exposing more of it to air. I doubt if the temps would be much different, but my main goal at this point would be to try to maintain current temps with a less intrusive setup. I think you have a good idea here Nate. It would definitely reduce the load on the pumps, hopefully prolonging pump life. I wish I was able to go ahead and try this out but it's probably going to be a couple of weeks. Still got lots of stuff to get in order in my new pad.

The sreen holes need to be large enough to allow easy flow of water through it or it will cause slight back up of water. This will also allow water droplets to stay in air longer allowing for more heat removal.

Err, the weed blocker stuff I've used is pretty much solid and water has to soak through it. Unless it has changed over the years. Maybe some kind of chicken wire/fence material. Larger openings but not too large obviously

thats why I built it my way, shock is crazy. 

I tried the fiberglass screen awhile back in order to break up the water droplets on the way down, but my work was sloppy and temps weren't fazed. I may have to go back and look at the different size openings and see if I can find something that looks like it would work in a fountain type setup. I would take some actual effort to come up with a design robust and at least semi elegant.... Anyways, I can't believe Nate called someone else "crazy" lmao!!!!!

Hi Nateman & Chris. 1st post here.
 
I know it's been a while since there's been any activity in this thread...
Are you guys still using your 'Evaporative Water Cooling Towers" bongs? If so I have several ideas I'd like to share.

btw the term "bong" was frowned upon by EVGA mods so we try not to refer to it as that ;)
 
I haven't turned it on in a while since my computer has been in pieces since the summer.  Such a sad day staring it it every day just sitting there.

strange- I haven't turned on my bong in months, and it still has liquid in it. 
 
Thanks for the BR request-but some don't think this thread is BR material.
 
I mind not.  mmmmyesssss

Another first post!! 
 
Welcome to the forms!!   You may have to dumb that down a bit for folks such as myself.  While I caught most of what your saying the condensing coil in the center would probably negate the simplistic nature of this entire cooler.  I like the way you think though.  Its a great performer, that I liken to a V8 engine.  Is gulps gas, which you need to fill up often (distilled water is pretty cheap though).

Basically there are 2 methods of dehumidifying air. Method one is through a system which would warm the air... so thus not an option. The other is you run a coil from an outside source into the center of a return tube useing some method which would cause the best condensation to form and drain off into a water return. this coil would have to be at about 35f or 1 or 2c. as close to freezing as possible but not freezing as you don't want ice to form on it.
 
However yes... at this point the price goes way up and its no longer a simple solution.
 
The other thought i had was having a float valve in the reservoir at the bottom that will allow a fill tube from a water source to keep the water at a level which is ideal. this would be the most simplistic as long as you have a source close by you can run some 1/4 tubing from.
 
Then you just vent out the excess air to the outside and run a simple pond filter just to make sure that dirt from airborne dust doesn't eventually contaminate this and it should be basically no maintenance.
 
Last thought i had is this... tubing size is something to consider. 2 inch tubing would work but be off a rough head calculation 1/3 the cooling of 4 inch as the evaporation area is way more confined. 6 inch would in theory offer approx 60% better cooling performance. That isn't to say colder temps, but better heat bleed off, or in other words it would dissipate a higher wattage of heat coming from the computer. 8 inch likewise would offer somewhere in the range of 120-140% better dissipation over 4 inch. However 8 inch PVC or ABS isn't going to be a cheep thing in the range of an 8 foot piece, and the fittings will be 20-60 bucks.
 
One final thought is that a 6 or 8 inch tower could even go as far as to cool enough for 2 or 3 pumps and loops, say a cpu/north-bridge loop, and then a loop for a video card or 2.

Heres another thought i had, if you want to use misters, the mesh baffles could just be something simple like fiberglass screen and you want to leave an inch or so at the bottom of the tube free and clear for water that builds up to flow.
 
This would work best with 6 inch or 8 inch pipe so theres plenty of flow at low air speed.
 
Oh and the little rectangle at the end of the elbow is a fan.
 

why not use  a evaporative cooler http://www.bing.com/search?q=evaporative+coolers&FORM=BWFD

it cools the air by evaporating water wich will also cool the water

i am a plumber and i take out 1 1/2 copper all the time out of old houses to revamp them and three in. vent stacks too.. i got them piled in the shop.geez i was gonna sell it all to the scrap yard..thats why that junk dude comes here with his magnet,,,,he's making coolers,,if he doesn't give me one i am gonna cut him off.gotta love inventive creative people...they make the world go around,nice job bro. if you're stuck for some copper let me know..i got a heap of it i usually pile it up for the scrap dude once a year.have no idea what its worth or don't care just like the scrap magnet dude to come around and clean up my shop,,, might attempt one of these myself .....