Summer is coming and the pool is back in place. Last year we switched to a bigger water filter, and this year we added a fountain that needs more pressure. The result? A pump so loud I could hear it from the studio. So I went to the hardware store to try a DIY fix.
The problem
If your neighbours complain, or the filter is driving you mad and you can hear it from your bedroom, this can be a good hack. The bigger pump does a better job, but the humming was unbearable. My idea was to build a box around it lined with sound-absorbing layers to contain the noise.
The materials
I used two things from the hardware store:
- Soundproofing carpets, the kind used on the floors of video-conference rooms to keep sound isolated.
- Glass wool (in Italy you'll find it as "lana di vetro"). It absorbs sound waves and dampens them, so there's less reverberation and vibration.
Combined, they form a layer that stops the sound waves from vibrating and escaping. In the video you can see me building the enclosure around the pump and closing it with a cover.
The sound test
With the cover on and everything closed, I measured again: almost 10 decibels less. That's impressive. One thing to take into account is the street noise around our house, which stays constant between 40 and 60 dB, so that's the baseline for the readings.
Am I satisfied? About 70%, because it isn't finished. The inside walls are still empty. I need to build a frame to hold more glass wool and some more carpet, so the vibration doesn't spread as much. For now, though, I'm pretty happy with the result.