I have recently purchased some property that has a pond on it. It seems to be a well constructed, 1.5 acre empoundment about 16' deep at the dam. It is well stocked, but has murky water. The pond level is currently two feet above design causing the emergency spillway to constantly flow and stay wet. In the pond there is a 8" stand pipe 40' from the damn. The top is submerged 2 feet. 41' from the dam (and next to the stand pipe) is a T bar that is attached to something at the bottom of the pond, but apparently not attached to the stand pipe. The handle of the T bar is barely visible above the surface of the water. There is a 6" pipe through the dam that, I guess, should route overflow water under the dam to the original creek bed. There is no water coming through this pipe.

I originally thought that the 6" pipe through the dam must be clogged, but after several unsuccessful efforts to clear it, I am now thinking that the T bar (which I originally thought was to completely drain the pond) is somehow being used to shut off the overflow stand pipe. We've run 130' of pvc pipe up from the end of the dry outflow pipe that goes through the dam, and we hit something that feels and sounds metallic (not the debris we were expecting). 130' should be enough to get from the end of the overflow, through the dam and to the stand pipe, which I guess we succeeded in doing.

I am hesitant to muscle the T bar up down or around without knowing more about its design and what it is intended to do. If it is a pond drain, I am told that if I drain down the pond now (with the present wet conditions) the capillary action of the receding water may cause the dam to slump.

Is anyone familiar with this overflow design? Can anyone tell us more about how this system is designed to work? What is the T bar attached to and how do I operate it? If the T bar opens the overflow, does that mean there is no way to totally drain the pond without siphoning?

Hi AG, Welcome to Pond Boss, glad you found the place!

I'll leave the answer to your question to one of the experts (I'm a mere bean counter who happens to have a pond).

Post some photos of your place if when you get a chance. We always enjoy seeing other folks ponds.

Can you post a pic ? Usually that handle sticking up is the device that allows you to open the valve at the bottom of the stand pipe. That valve is in line with the front of the through dam pipe which Ts into the stand pipe with a small part ( few feet) of the through the dam pipe going out into the pond on the water side of the stand pipe. You should not have to open the valve for water to go through the stand pipe and out the back of the through the dam pipe to the back side of the dam. See this site. http://www.ponddampiping.com/ http://www.ponddampiping.com/conv1.html

Thank you for the welcome and for your responses. Your explanation and the pictures on the links confirm what we thought about the design of our pond. Our stand pipe is not working, and we have yet to figure out why. We have a couple more ideas to try in an effort to solve the puzzle before siphoning the pond to a manageable level becomes necessary.

Can you ask the prior owner about the set up? I am wondering if it does not have a bottom drain ability but only through the overflow pipe and that is blocked by a gate valve that is closed.

The set up is just like the pictures of the normal drain/overflow system - with the stand pipe and the T bar in line with the drain under the dam, and the T bar about a foot further from the dam than the stand pipe. That made us believe that the T bar was a bottom drain as you first hypothesized.

It was only when we ran the pvc up from the end of the overflow and hit something that sounded metallic (and not like debris) that we began to consider that the pond may have no bottom drain, and that the T bar controls whether the overflow pipe is open or shut (your second hypothesis).

If that is the case, it confuses me as to why the T bar would be FURTHER from the dam rather than BETWEEN the stand pipe and the dam. Any ideas?

Our next trick is going to be to put a pole down the stand pipe while pushing the pvc up from the end of the overflow to see if the pvc is really making it to the bottom of the stand pipe. If it is (and the pvc runs into the pole), then we have to assume the T bar controls whether the stand pipe is open or closed. But I still don't see how the pvc is going to get to the pole...it just can't or water would be flowing down the stand pipe and out under the dam.

If that doesn't provide us with enough data to make a decision about what the T bar controls, then I guess our next move will be to siphon down the pond, wait until the wet ground dries significantly, muscle the T bar (I still don't know how it operates - by pushing, pulling, or twisting) until something happens. I foresee us running around in a panicked scramble if the whole darn pond starts to drain and we can't get the T bar gate back in place.

LOL...I am starting to think I should video the whole thing and at least make $10,000 from Funniest Home Videos.

BTW, the previous owner is unavailable, and pics are on the way.

Thanks for all your consideration of this mystery. I will certainly keep you posted and appreciate any further ideas you may have.