A woman from Toronto bought a small tabletop water fountain from Dollarama, hoping it would be a calming addition to her home. Instead, the fountain started smoking shortly after she plugged it in.
TikTok creator Emily Mills, who posts under the username @soemilymills, shared a video showing the entire experience, from setting up the fountain to watching it smoke near an electrical connection.
Mills has 6,252 followers and 370.2K likes on her TikTok account, where she describes her content as covering “Storytimes,” “True Crime,” “Conspiracy Theories,” and “Real-Life Chaos.”
Video shows fountain malfunctioning soon after setup
In the video, Mills first shows the black, rock-shaped fountain sitting on a windowsill with water flowing from the top and a small green plant placed on it. She says, “So I bought this cute thing from the dollar store. I think it’s gonna be nice and soothing, and it literally sounds like a dentist’s office and my dog hates it.”
The fountain makes a high-pitched whirring noise. Mills adds more water to try to quiet it down, saying, “So I added more water and it’s getting quieter, but it’s like getting messy now.” The water level rises and starts splashing out unevenly.
Soon after, the fountain stops working. Mills says, “Okay, well, it just stopped working, so….” The video then cuts to a close-up of the power connection, where smoke can be seen rising from it, along with a small orange glow. Mills says, “Oh my god, it’s literally smoking! Oh my f–king God, oh my God, it’s a fire!”
She then moves the fountain outside onto a balcony ledge, saying it smelled like fire. “So I put it outside now,” she says. At the end of the video, Mills shows the product packaging, identifying the item as a “Tabletop Water Fountain with Natural River Stones,” a product also sold under the brand name AFUADF. The packaging advertises “relaxing, gentle water with ambient glow.”
Mills says she is unsure whether the issue was specific to the unit she bought or affects the product more broadly. “I mean, it was only $5,” she says. “Also, watching the video back, the light never worked. Zero out of 10, definitely would not recommend.”
A similar fountain is listed for sale at Walmart for $18, according to the product listing referenced in coverage of the incident. Videos raising questions about everyday products have circulated widely online recently, including a viral clip about melt-resistant ice cream that left viewers questioning its ingredients.
Dollar store chains have faced past recalls involving electronic and heat-related products. Family Dollar Stores recalled oscillating ceramic heaters in 2007 over fire risk concerns, and issued a similar recall of 20,000 heaters in 2013, reported by PR Newswire. The company also recalled a set of decorative lights in 2012. In 2022, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced that Dollar Tree had recalled more than 1 million hot glue guns due to fire risk.
According to Electronic Asset Security, low-cost electronics can carry a higher risk of fire and electrocution because of inconsistent quality control and safety standards among some manufacturers. The organization notes that cheap chargers and power adapters, which convert electricity from a wall outlet into the voltage a device needs, can overheat if they are not designed properly. This can lead to smoke, sparks, or fire, according to the organization.
Consumer advocates recommend spending more on home decor, appliances, and electronics to reduce this risk, according to reporting on the incident. Concerns about product safety in everyday settings have surfaced elsewhere too, such as when footage of people climbing into a store cooler drew questions about food safety practices.
The video drew a large response from viewers, many of whom weighed in on what might have caused the malfunction and shared their own experiences with cheap products. One commenter argued the fountain’s design was risky, writing, “Lawsuit waiting to happen.”
Others pointed to possible user error. One commenter wrote, “She just used it wrong,” while another explained, “The pump needs water or it burns up. You didn’t have enough water and then burned the pump up.”
Several viewers said the price of the item shouldn’t matter when it comes to safety. One commenter wrote, “Thank you for sharing this. More people need to see this. And it doesn’t matter if it’s $5.00 or $500.00 if it’s sold by a store, it needs to be safe and work properly.”
Another commenter shared a similar experience with a different cheap product, writing, “Happened to me with a hot gun from Amazon 😭it melted started fire and almost combusted. It was crazy Amazon almost refused to refund me.” Some viewers offered general advice for buying inexpensive items online, with one writing, “Always check reviews, both positive and negative before buying anything on Amazon that’s not from a trusted brand.”
Published: Aug 4, 2026 12:45 pm