I believe earth berms and vegetation would help a lot more than a pump. But they’re pricey, too, especially if you get the large trees that you need.

There are lots of articles online about noise mitigation. Google earth berms for noise control.

A small floating fountain would probably not make much of a difference. It would probably have to be a larger waterfall feature.

In a word, No. All it would do is raise the overall noise level. Plus, the sound it creates is higher frequencies than the bass that irritates you, so no real masking of them.

Medium- to long-term solution: trees, lots of them.

Short-term solution: triple-glazed windows.

Ear plugs at night. Which is when noise is most noticeable. .........yes they work. Over time, most people cease to notice road noise at all. If not so, NYC would literally be the land of "never sleeps". For those used to that urban environment..... a single night in the middle of a forest in nowhereville can be perceived as "deafeningly noisy" : ) Call it the adaptability of humans.

@phun:

I was planning on installing one of these https://www.amazon.com/DFTN12003L-Floating-Fountain-Lights-Power/dp/B01D8ZMKZQ#HLCXComparisonWidget_feature_div. This shoots water up to about 9' with a width of about 15'. I'm not sure i'd consider this small. If so, what is considered larger? the pond can get to 1/4 acre in the summer.

@jan: I know what you mean; the road noise itself doesn't bother me so much (it's unpleasant, but that's about it). The low frequency noise from random boom boxes and subwoofers is what drives me insane.

@littlebug good idea about an earth berm. I don't know why I didn't think of it! I have a tractor and being on 5 acres, a lot of dirt - could I just do it over the course of a few weeks? or maybe rent an earth mover?

giantfluffybunny(9b) - That's a good sized fountain you are looking at. I just can't imagine it blocking out much sound unless you were sitting right next to the pond, but it can't hurt to try. I think a large waterfall feature would block out much more sound. The berm sounds good as well.

Having been in this situation, I will tell you that short of building a wall to deflect the noise, nothing else will work.

I have researched this a bit and have some experience living near freeways and loud neighborhoods. Trees actually don't mask noise other than when the wind blows, some trees rustle loudly, like aspens and cottonwoods. Berms work, my friend had one installed and had a patio and garden along the busy road behind the berm, and you would have never known it. Concrete walls work too. I had a friend who live along the Schuykill expressway and had a large concrete wall behind her house and you would never have known what was behind it. Not sure about decorative cement blocks or brick walls as far as sound goes, seems like those would be the home owner options.

I installed a small fountain and wind chime near my small patio garden in an urban neighborhood, and it did give us something nice to listen to when we were out there, but didn't mask the worst noises.

I linked to a good comprehensive overview article from "This Old House" web site. https://www.thisoldhouse.com/ideas/yard-noise-reduction

i feel your pain. we had a similar situation, but the road had been expanded after we lived there for 15 years. we moved.

I feel your pain. I've got four acres. We've researched everything, walls, tree, bamboo, berms, acoustifence, fountains, and waterfalls. The best and most effective solutions are masonry fences and earthen berms. Both are expensive. Berms take up a lot of real estate. They have to be about two times as wide as they are high. Any gaps will allow sound to get through the gap. The farther you are away from the source of noise, the harder it is to deal with.

Trees and vegetation do help from the stand point that the eye won't follow the sound. Looking at your aerial, I'd say a fountain will not be noisy enough to do the trick. It's got to be between you and the noise source. Even though most of the noise is gone by bedtime, we run a box fan in the bedroom at night to make a constant noise.

Wouldn't you like to take a shotgun to the boom boxes? I keep hoping they will grow up and move away. While we have one or two of those upon occasion, it's the big diesel pickup trucks and the little rice rockets with no muffler. It's not too bad when the police set up a speed trap and slow down traffic. Once they leave, the speed goes up along with noise from the tires and the acceleration.

We are planting a large stand of various trees and bushes between us and the road. If my landscaper lucks into some fill dirt from one of his contractors, we will try to add a bit of a berm, too. Fill dirt is expensive and hard to come by at the right time.

I had this problem in reverse. We moved from the country to an 'in town' neighborhood adjacent to a busy highway. We noticed every single car that drove by every night on our street. Not to mention the train that barrelled through at early hours (tracks on complete opposite side if neighborhood). We can also hear the Air Force base play Reveille at 7am and Taps at 10pm! The base is across the rive about 5 miles away

It's been 18 years. Now, we don't even notice the noise from traffic/train, etc. Occasionally neighbors blare the car radios, but, what can you do (unless it's constant and you need to complain). You can and mostly likely will get used to it. Try not to fixate on it. That makes it more noticeable.

Chiming in that in the two cases I described, the homeowners did not pay for either the berm or concrete walls, they were installed as part of the road expansions in both cases. I live on a busy road, and unless we hit the lottery, not likely that we will be installing a berm or wall. I'll just be happy if we can finish dealing with the privacy issues.

Put a fan in the bedroom for "white" noise........get one of those machines that play surf side stuff. But you are truly underestimating the very amazing adaptability of the human condition, and your own as well. We survive in hospitals and we sleep, despite the all night long interruptions and noise. We live near trains......cars.....roads. Take two aspirin before bed , put on a movie and set the tv timer, or just read a really good book. Night night, and bet you wake on top of your eye glasses. : )

Drink some wine at night...it helps! All best,