A pet watering fountain includes a bowl having a wall extending to a floor. The floor includes a lower area defining a sump with a sump floor. The sump floor has a height lower than the height of the surrounding portion of the floor. The housing divides the basin into a drinking basin and an interior basin. The drinking basin is accessible to an animal while the interior basin is located behind and underneath the housing and is not accessible to the animal. The pump has an inlet plate with inlet openings located near the bottom of the pump below the level of the bowl floor surrounding portion so that the bowl floor surrounding portion may be devoid of water yet the pump may still have enough water to keep it pumping and prevent it from overheating due to the water within the sump above the inlet openings.
