How do we replace the pump station that irrigates our HOA common areas from a lake or pond?

By OurHOA · General information · Revised September 28, 2026

How an HOA board replaces a lake or pond irrigation pump station: water use permits in FL, TX and CO, pump and VFD sizing, intake screens, bids and a reserve line.

Part of the HOA board handbook: vendors, projects and upkeep.

The short answer

A lake-fed pump station is the pump, motor, controls, filter and intake pipe that pull pond water into the common-area sprinklers. When it fails, the easy move is to buy whatever matches the old nameplate. Slow down for two weeks. Before anyone orders equipment, the board should confirm the association is allowed to pump that water and in what amount, measure what the system needs today, and write a scope that several contractors can price the same way. Rules on pumping surface water vary a lot by state, and your declaration, plat and permits decide who owns the pond and the station. This guide is general education, not legal or engineering advice.

Confirm the association may pump that water

Owning the land around a pond does not settle whether the association may pump from it. Find the paperwork first, because the new equipment has to fit what the permit or water right allows. Florida. Section 373.219 lets the water management districts require permits for consumptive use of water and exempts only domestic use by individual users. Each district sets its own thresholds. Southwest Florida Water Management District rule 40D-2.041(4) requires an individual permit when the outside diameters of the surface water withdrawal pipes add up to 4 inches or more, when annual average use reaches 100,000 gallons a day, or when withdrawal capacity reaches 1,000,000 gallons a day. Smaller uses fall under a general permit by rule. South Florida Water Management District's permitting FAQ (January 2020) lists landscaping with multiple wells or pumps as needing a permit, and its noticed general permit covers average use under 100,000 gallons a day from surface intakes under 6 inches in combined diameter, for a $100 online fee. Pull your permit number, allocation and listed pumps. If the new station has a bigger intake or more capacity than the permit lists, call the district before you sign. Texas. Water Code 11.021 makes the storm water, floodwater and rainwater of every watercourse state water, and 11.121 requires a TCEQ permit to take it unless an exemption applies. The exemptions in 11.142 cover domestic and livestock ponds and wildlife ponds up to 200 acre-feet. Common-area landscape irrigation is not named there. TCEQ says diffuse runoff that has not reached a watercourse is not state water, so a pond fed only by sheet flow may be different. Ask whether the developer held a water right and assigned it to the association. If nobody knows, email TCEQ's water rights staff with the pond location. Colorado. If the pond is a storm water detention and infiltration facility as defined in C.R.S. 37-92-602(8)(b), subsection (8)(e)(I) says water it detains or releases shall not be used for any purpose by the entity that owns or operates it. Pumping a lake for irrigation generally needs a water right the association can point to, such as a court decree or ditch company shares. Find that document and have a water attorney confirm the new station stays inside it.

Measure what the system needs before you size anything

The old pump is a poor guide. DOE's pumping tip sheet notes that most pumps are sized for maximum or future demand, so they rarely run at full capacity. Give the contractor these numbers in writing: the flow in gallons per minute and the pressure at the heads for the largest zone, the number of zones that run at once, the elevation from the low pond level to the highest head, the length and size of the mainline, and the watering window the local rules allow. If the association has had an irrigation audit, most of this is in the report. If not, our guide on cutting an HOA water bill with an irrigation audit walks through the zone checks. Ask each bidder to show the pump curve with your design point marked on it. A design point far from the pump's best efficiency point means the pump is the wrong size, even if it fits the old pad.

Decide on a variable frequency drive and the controls

A variable frequency drive, or VFD, changes motor speed to hold a set pressure as zones open and close. Without one, a fixed-speed pump runs flat out and a valve or bypass throws away the extra pressure. DOE's tip sheet gives the rule of thumb for centrifugal pumps with no static lift: cutting speed and flow by 20 percent can cut input power by about 50 percent. Irrigation always needs some fixed pressure at the heads, so real savings will be smaller than that. Ask each bidder to estimate them for your zones. The drive helps the equipment too. The same sheet says an induction motor started across the line draws up to six times full-load current, while a VFD limits starting current to about one and a half times. Soft starts put less strain on motor windings and couplings, the sheet says. Put these controls in the scope: a pressure transducer on the discharge, a low-water or loss-of-prime cutoff so the pump cannot run dry when the pond drops in a drought, a high-pressure shutdown, surge protection on the panel, and a flow meter if your permit requires one or you want to track use.

Get the intake right, because that is where stations fail

Pond water carries weeds, algae, sand, fish and turtles. UF/IFAS extension advice for pumping from lakes and ponds is to keep aquatic plants and animals away from the intake with a screen, using a horizontal screen below the water surface or a basket-type intake filter. Debris pulled into the suction line cuts pumping efficiency, and algae clogs screen filters downstream. In the scope, ask for the intake to sit below the lowest normal water level and off the bottom so it does not draw sediment, with a screen a person can reach and clean from the bank or a dock. Ask for a filter after the pump that is easy to clean and sized for organic load, not just sand. If the old intake pipe is cracked or sagging, replace it now. Check the pond permit before anyone digs in the bank or the littoral shelf. Our guide on setting up a retention pond maintenance schedule covers what the pond permit usually asks of the association.

Plan the electrical work at the water's edge

A new pump or a VFD often means a new panel, new feeders or a service upgrade, and that needs an electrical permit and a licensed electrician. According to the International Association of Electrical Inspectors, the National Electrical Code has had a separate article since the 2005 edition, Article 682, for wiring and equipment in and next to natural and artificial bodies of water, including storm retention basins and irrigation facilities. It can require an equipotential plane at outdoor disconnects that control equipment in the water. Your city or county adopts a particular NEC edition, so ask the inspector which one applies. Write into the scope that the contractor pulls the permit, schedules the inspection, labels the disconnect, and gives the association the as-built wiring diagram.

Bid it, vote on it and sign a service contract

Texas Property Code 209.0052(c) requires an association contracting for services over $50,000 to solicit bids or proposals through a bid process the association sets up. Florida Statute 720.3055 requires competitive bids when a contract exceeds 10 percent of the total annual budget including reserves and does not require the board to take the lowest bid. In Colorado, follow your own documents and bidding policy. Our guide on writing an HOA request for proposal covers the packet and the bid sheet. The bid form should price, line by line: removal of the old station, pump and motor, VFD panel, controls, filter, intake and screen, suction line, electrical work and permit, startup and a pressure test, and a first-year service visit. Ask for the manufacturer's warranty in years for the pump, motor and drive separately, and the labor warranty. A motion the board can adapt: "Move to award the irrigation pump station replacement to [contractor] for $[amount] per its bid dated [date], subject to the contractor confirming the equipment fits the association's water use permit or water right, and to authorize the president to sign." Then sign a service contract with at least a spring startup and a fall check: intake screen cleaned, filter serviced, pressure and amp readings logged, and the low-water cutoff tested.

A sample timeline, the reserve line and common mistakes

Replace the station in the off-season if you can. A workable schedule: week 1, pull the permit or water right and the old drawings; weeks 2 to 3, collect zone data and write the scope; weeks 4 to 7, site walk and bids; week 8, board vote; weeks 9 to 14, equipment lead time and installation; week 15, startup, inspection and a walk of every zone. If the station dies in July, rent a temporary pump while this runs, and tell owners why the turf is brown. A notice paragraph for owners: "The pump that waters the common areas from the lake has failed. Irrigation will be limited until a replacement is installed, expected by [date]. The board is getting bids and will vote at the [date] meeting." Add the station to the reserve study as its own component, with separate lines for the pump and motor, the drive and panel, and the intake. Four mistakes come up again and again. Boards replace like for like without checking the permit. They leave the intake alone because it is underwater and out of sight. They buy a drive and let the installer set the pressure without testing the far zones. And nobody tests the low-water cutoff until the pond drops and the pump burns up.

Sources

These guides are general education for HOA boards and residents, not legal, tax, or financial advice. Rules vary by state and by your community's governing documents - check with a professional for your situation.

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