Given the larger spaces we enjoy on a smallholding one is usually able to site one’s tanks and pumps away from any dwelling, so that noise from the pump is not heard in house. But, even so, there are instances where, because of design or circumstances, the only place to install a booster pump, for instance, can be close to a wall of the house and, often, right under a window ~ enter silent pumps.
Because, what if that window happens to be a bedroom window? Spare a thought for the occupant who, if a light sleeper, is bound to be wakened every time the pump kicks in.
Unless, of course, the homeowner spends a little more initially and installs a silent pump rather than a cheaper conventional one.
Although conventional modern pumps are not particularly noisy, they are noisy enough for them to be heard, even by those who are hard of hearing. And that pump switching on and off, day and night, as somebody in the house fills a glass from a tap or flushes a toilet, can become extremely irritating.
Silent pumps, which combine skillful advanced engineering in the pump and motor, enclosed in a carefully-designed noise absorbing cover, are just that. Silent. You can stand right next to them and you won’t hear whether the pump is on or off. And you will sleep right through even if one is sited right outside your bedroom.
In fact, the only time you will realise that your pump is off is when you open a tap and nothing comes out.
With silence and a well-designed enclosure the possibilities become endless. For example, the pump no longer needs to be installed outside. If your system requires it you can install the pump in your scullery or in a cupboard ~ under the kitchen sink, for example.
Silent or conventional, booster pumps have come a long way in the last two or three decades, making it completely unnecessary to rely on nothing more than the (weak) pressure built up by feeding water to the house from a tank atop a stand.
And from the first pressure-regulators which comprised a mechanical switch coupled with an air- and water-tight tank inside of which was a large heavy-duty rubber balloon the world has now moved to microprocessor-based regulators that adjust the volume of water being pumped according to the draw-off in the system.
By so doing they ensure that a constant pressure is maintained in the system. This, in turn, means that somebody in a shower can enjoy the same water pressure, and thus water temperature, regardless of whether another member of the household fills a sink or flushes a toilet.
Main image: DAB e.sybox, available locally.
This is Part Four in a five-part series on Pumps. To read the rest of the series, click here.