Your pump room location is too funny : the house we are in now has a pump house that is only about 5 feet in height. We thought it was a little strange, but remember where we live. Commented on this to a neighbor. He says : the pump house used to be about 6 or 7 feet high - with steps going down 2 or 3 feet. Of course - this was in the direct path of water and rain run-off, and the pump house flooded on a regular basis - especially during rainy season. Instead of putting in proper drainage, or diverting the water run-off somehow - typical Dominican solution : they filled in 2 to 3 feet with concrete, bringing the floor of the pump house to about ground level. Except now - of course - all of the equipment ( pump, filter, plumbing, etc ) is about 2 to 3 feet higher. And about 1/2 foot ABOVE pool level. So system would drain back into the pool, when shut off. And lose it's prime. Eventually we had a check valve installed, which ( sort of ) solved that problem. But we still have a "midget" sized pump house - even for us vertically challenged people.