When I think about our clients using pumps, I think they are always going to be indoors – in a safe climate controlled environment.
It’s not always true – about a third of the pumps we sell would actually be used outside. Funny how your mind works sometimes…
Regardless of whether you are looking to mitigate noise, protect against extreme hot or cold, keep your pump safe from vandalism or theft or even just to keep an ‘eye-sore’ out of sight. There are five key considerations to consider when designing your pump enclosure.
Consideration #1: Size & Strength. The size of your enclosure is as much dictated by ease of maintenance as it is by the size of the pump(s) inside. We see our share of installations where you look at them and say “Gee, I’m glad I’m not the guy who has to service that.”
When you are custom designing a pump enclosure you have every chance to avoid this. So talk to your pump supplier – we’ll be able to help you to understand what maintenance and repair access is required so that your maintenance and repairs are as quick as possible.
Strength of the enclosure is mainly concerned with wind and snow loads (where applicable).
Consideration #2: Climate Control. The first thing that springs to mind – we don’t want water freezing in our pumps do we? Also remember viscosity of other fluids can vary with temperature – oil for instance. We need to consider the temperature range that we want our pump to be operating in.
You might need insulation, heating, ventilation and even cooling in some applications depending on your temperature requirements.
Consideration #3: Protection. To protect against vandalism, theft and terrorism the best pump enclosures are plain looking and blend into the environment. That way the only people who tend to notice them are your maintenance team.
Make sure the doors lock and the structure is robust enough to deter an attacker or persuade them to seek a softer target. If you have a security alarm on the structure, then you want it to be impenetrable until your security team can respond to the threat.
Consideration #4: Access & Maintenance. I’ve mentioned maintenance before as a consideration of size of your enclosure. Ease of maintenance also needs to consider access points – so that both break repairs and routine maintenance are as easy as possible.
Your enclosure should outlast the pump inside it. So be sure that you can hoist out the entire unit and drop in a new one – otherwise it will be a sorry sight – dismantling the enclosure so that you can replace the pump.
Consideration #5: Monitoring. While not a feature of the enclosure as such, it is well worth considering what monitoring is going to be needed for the pump station. We don’t want to find out that out of sight, out of mind has been applied to monitoring system.
The simplest monitoring system would be to have a wireless monitoring system linked into a master monitoring system/control room. Usually you only need a pump power monitor to be sure the pump is working as planned. A spike or decline in power consumption is a dead giveaway there is a problem.
We are more than happy to assist you with specifying your pump housing systems when you order your pumps with us. Give our team a call on 404-363-6000 or drop us a line at sales@pyebarker.com and we can figure out the best pump system for you and work with your pump housing designer to give you a great pump housing.
