Pump House Ideas

[Kubota Tee]

Anyone out there ever build a pump house for covering an irrigation pump next to a lake? I have the perfect location for using our lake as a water source for a lawn irrigation system. I've got most of the project figured out (pump, layout, filter, etc) except for how to keep the pump and distribution manifold from being an eye sore in my yard. Since I live in Michigan, I'll have to have easy access to the pump in order to disconnect it and bring it inside during the winters.

My basic requirements are:
- minimally invasive, some how blend it in with the landscape
- hide the pump, electrical connections/disconnect, distribution manifold, electric valves, etc
- easy access for maintenance and annual pump removal/install

I haven't been able to find much online, but have noodled around on these ideas:
- hide it under a bench seat
- cover it with a fake rock
- build a small "dog house"

So . . . Post pics of what you've done and how it's worked out for you.

Thanks!!

 

[jaotguy]

that fake rock could be made out of Styrofoam sheets hot glued together and shaped with sandpaper/ grinder .... painted with water based paint

or how about a miniature windmill (dutch style)

or plant some cedars around it like a hunting blind ....

build a large rock garden around it ? ( hollow center)

 

[Carl_NH]

We lived on a lake and our water supply on a sand point well failed (25' from the lake) and driving one deeper didn't work.

So I dug 6' deep hole 15' back from the lake and - hit water at 4' so put in 6 concrete blocks 2 high then installed one 24" high x 3' round concrete tile on top of the block then a PT platform set the pump then insulated the second 24" x3' tile and covered with concrete lid.

Backfilled with 6" dirt and it never froze. Of course we tested the water before using it and every couple of years. That worked well for the 10 years we lived there.

 

[BHD]

what ever you do make the pump house with a lifting ring so it can be lifted off or moved off the well for well maintenance,

as far as some thing decorative, one could design it like a dutch windmill, or a Indian tepee, a Gazebo looking building http://www.josephpelllombardi.com/5homes/IMAGES/octagon/well_hse.jpg

depening on the height one needs a old type open well, http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Herkimer_House_water_well.jpg or
http://www.joytimesfive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Wishing-well.jpg or http://www.rgbstock.com/cache1nvKQs/users/j/jd/jdeboer/300/mfebzzO.jpg

Fake boulder Fake Rocks / Boulders for landscaping
picture f one as a well cover Artificial Rock / Boulder for Landscaping D114

most I have seen look like a little storage shed

 

[Qapla]

Have you considered putting the valves IN the ground so they would not need to be under the cover, thus making a smaller footprint for the cover.