Massive water dispersal

Question
I have two cats.  I have always had one of those one gallon self filling water dishes, and in addition to that, I had a little water bowl that would get filled more often.  I am often not home, so the self water feed thing is great, between that and the self food feeder, I can be gone for a while and know the cats are OK.  Anyway, one day I come home to find a bunch of water on my kitchen floor.  I thought perhaps the water feeder had leaked, but after testing it in the sink for a day, realized that wasn't the case.  I returned it to the floor, and came home the next day, to find a gallon of water on the floor again.  I washed the feeder, put fresh water in it and tried again.  Once again, gallon of water all over the floor.  That night, while in the dining room, I heard water splashing and "busted" Ray, while he swatted at the water dish and continued beating the water, until he drained the dish.  He has overnight, discovered that water is either, a) evil and needs to be killed, or (b) is a fun toy and needs to be splashed all over the floor.

I am not sure what to do at this point, because I cannot remove the water, without killing the cats.  Here is what I have tried so far:
1)  Removed self feeding water dish, relying solely on the small water dish.  Results:  water all over the floor...cat doesn't discriminate which water dish to drain.
2)  Purchased new water dish, in case he just doesn't like the way the old ones smelled.  Result:  water all over the floor.
3)  Purchased one of those plug in, water fountain type water bowls.  Results:  one cat won't come near it, the other cat...water all over the floor.
4)  Put one dish in the shower, so cat can drain at leisure without ruining my floors, kept small dish downstairs.  Results:  water all over the shower and all over the floor downstairs.
5)  Put a big towel under the dish downstairs, keep it with very, very little water in it, so the damage is minimized.  Results:  less water on the floor.
6)  Not yet tried this yet, but thought about a gerbil water bottle...

Anyway, I am trying to make light out of the situation, but I am really, really annoyed and don't know what to do.  Given my schedule, leaving a millimeter of water in a dish, so there isn't a lot to splash, isn't a good solution.  If I had that much time to constantly fill the water dish, I would get a dog.  Nothing has changed in my life, to piss the cat off, it just happened one day.  I am at the end of my rope, and really don't know what to do, other that see a cat shrink.  Unfortunately with my government job, I can't really afford that solution!!

Answer
Hi
oh my goodness, you have tried everything.

It sounds to me like your cat has found a new toy to keep him amused. So what i would do is go out and buy some more interactive toys for the cats, things like crinkle sacks and climbing posts etc. It may even be a good idea to get one of those cat videos designed to keep the cat entertained when left alone.

then I would remove the water bottle completely for a few days, just leave a dish down. Hopefully during this time your cat will have forgotten about the water bottle and is having to much fun with their new toys to notice it again.

T hats all I really suggest

I have a website with some ideas for toys etc on if you would like some ideas for your cat here are the pages
/cat-videos.html
/cat-toys.html

I hope the habit is broken soon

best wishes ktate