I have recently renovated drain for 3 acre pond. It formerly had a standpipe pulling water from the pond surface. It is a spring fed pond so flow is continuous. Wanting a drain point deeper in the pond plus problems with beavers plugging the 12 inch drain line prompted me to install a 4 inch siphoning line a few inches below the existing large line's elevation. I made "beaver deceiver" patterned after a design documented by Clemson university. I installed a u shaped vent on the siphon line extending into the water at the point of level control. All seems to work well, controlling the level about 4 inches below the former overflow pipe level, with no beaver problems so far. The problem I have is that the vent line interface with the water surface makes a pulsating sucking sound that I can hear anywhere around the lake. It appears the at the current stream flow, the 4 inch line must operate in the siphon mode part time to keep the level from increasing which is fine, but I would like to know if anyone has experienced this annoyance and if they were able to lessen the noise. Thanks.
Hang in there, I am sure somebody will come along and give you some guidance. I can only think that you need to have some sort of vent to prevent that noise. Sure would irritate me. I go to my pond for peace and solitude. You would want a vent that could be closed off too in case you want to use it as a siphon. A picture of your setup might help the folks here get a better understanding. There are alot of pond owners that have beaver troubles, and they might be interested in your setup too. However, they tend to get rid of the beaver!!!!!!!!!
Welcome Mullyden. If there is constant flow and the vent tube is exposed/unclogged, there is no siphon activity at all. The flow would be from the water level exceeding the high point in the 4" drain and flowing via gravity. The sound is likely reverberations from the water falling at the pipe exit below the dam being concentrated and coming out of the vent pipe and the sound waves rebounding over the water. Perhaps your "beaver deceiver" is also partially blocked and pressure briefly opens flow......?
By the sound of Mullyden's description, I get the feeling he took the vent from his siphon and routed it back to the water level by means of a "U" shaped pipe. If thats the case, then he no longer has a vent, or does he? Does this make the normal pipe, where water would flow, the vent? Pictures sure would be nice.
Agreed about the pics, in this case they may be well worth more than 1,000 words.
I think that it's the noise from breaking and restarting the siphon. The level in the pond isn't going down quick enough, and the siphon is re-starting and stopping.
I sincerely appreciate the welcome to the Pond Boss website. I am adding a pic and links to help clarify my problem. Once you experts solve this problem, I'll hit you up with a tougher one, why can't I get catfish to bite but that's for another day. I have three links to videos that should help to visualize the changes.
Well, I would start by removing that rubber piece. I believe you mentioned that your going to do this in your video.
Your pond level may rise because of that. Hopefully that will not upset/damage anything. It may get the water running into that other overflow pipe you have, which means that the beavers will probably cause you troubles again. Could add a short riser to that to prevent it.
I think the reason your whole setup is doing this is because your pipe that goes thru the dam with the "beaver deceiver" is a bit to high. That pipe need to be at the level you want your water to always remain at. Then the rubber pipe should be about an inch above that water level. As it is right now, the water has to rise enough to go thru this horizontal dam pipe which happens to be at the same height you have that rubber tube.
Hopefully if I'm wrong, the others will catch it and say so...
Yeah, I second removing the rubber furncoat to see what happens. I think everytime the ripples rise enough to cover the opening, it messes with the air pressure in the siphon. Then a second later when the opening is cleared, you get the popping noise.
I remember seeing engineering drawings showing the vent 1" above the normal water level, too. Removing the furncoat shouldn't allow the water level to rise, though, 'cause that's controlled by the level of the pipe going through the dam. But if the pipe ever goes into siphon mode, the vent will control the level at which the siphoning stops as the water level comes back down.
Thanks Fish and Vamaz. I am planning to go to the pond later this week and I think I'll replace the rubber piece with a shorter pvc coupling. The rubber may be acting like a drum head increasing the noise. I would like to have the 4 inch pipe be able to normally handle the flow without going into the siphon mode. I removed the rubber in a test and the pond level increased about 3/4 of an inch in 24 hours which tells me at least at the present flow rate, cycling between gravity and siphoning will be necessary. I like the idea of raising the vent some to ensure maximum flow without cycling. I would like to keep about 3 inches of elevation between the normal level and the larger overflow pipe. I will be able to maintain that. If the resulting sound is still not acceptable I think I will try varying the bottom edge of the shortened pvc coupling to see if that makes a difference. In any case, I now have a plan to work with. Thanks again for the comments.
All sounds good. The only thing that I have to add (I have limited experience working with a siphon) is that maybe the vent is too large in diameter/too long in length? The water that is in the vent pipe falls down to the pond and re-establishes the suction in the vent pipe?
I would like to have the 4 inch pipe be able to normally handle the flow without going into the siphon mode. I removed the rubber in a test and the pond level increased about 3/4 of an inch in 24 hours which tells me at least at the present flow rate, cycling between gravity and siphoning will be necessary. I like the idea of raising the vent some to ensure maximum flow without cycling. I would like to keep about 3 inches of elevation between the normal level and the larger overflow pipe. I will be able to maintain that.
I don't think you need to be using the siphon ability at all with this. If I understand siphon drains correctly, they are used when you want to lower water levels beyond their normal. The regular flow out of the normal part of the drain is not that much less in volume than when the siphon is being used. This should handle it without the siphon being used. Granted the water may go up 4" to where the pipe would be completely full to keep up with your regular inflow. I would let the water rise at least 4" inches to see if that pipe can handle it. I bet it won't reach 4" higher. This makes sense, doesn't it?
