I have an existing farm pond with a 15-inch green PVC outflow tube. The end of the pipe on the pond-side of the outflow pipe has been cut off so the bevel is gone. I have plenty of dam and would like to raise the water level about 18 inches. Any ideas on the best way to do this?

Howdy, RAH, and welcome to the forum.

Treat it like a male end and add an elbow with a riser? I can't figure exactly what your up against. Can you post a picture?

Theo,

Thanks for the inerest. I am on dial-up so pictures are a bit tough. I had thought about adding an elbow (don't need a riser cause I'll get more that 18 inches with just the elbow). I am worried that without the bevel on the 15-inch pipe that the elbow won't slide on. I have never worked with PVC pipe this large. I also was worried that with the openning facing up, that the outlet might pull too much air during flooding (whorlpool effect), causing the drain to carry less water and putting too much flow through the emergency spillway. I was hoping that somebody made something specific for this like a plastic box that fit over the pipe. Any suggestions on how to locate local suppier for the elbows?

Try searching www.agridrain.com. They may have what you need.

If reluctant, a little grinder work might convince an elbow to go on. Since there is no pressure involved, lots of PVC glue (and possibly silicone bathtub seal afterwards) should be able to seal it up leak-proof upon installation.

Or, if you're leery about working around water with a power tool, you could use a coarse file to put a bevel on the pipe.

This type of PVC pipe does not use glue. It comes with an integral gasket and is pressure fit. I think it is used primarily for sewer pipe and is buried which keeps it from blowing apart. I'm not sure if an elbow will stay on if not buried.

RAH, I put in several thousand feet of that kind of pipe on my farm & Theo is right about beveling it first. Then get some of their slickem jelly & lube the rubber gasket. If it won't force on, then use a hammer and a wooden block & tap it on...du

David, Theo,

The beveling and gasket lube sound like great ideas. Will it stay on and not turn even if only pushed on like the buried stuff, or do I need PVC glue on this 15-inch elbow? Pardon my ignorance, I have never used this type of pipe before and the contractor who built the pond did not use glue on the pipe. Also, I have never come across anyone selling this large size pipe. Any suggestions how to Google up a local vendor?

PS. I am concerned about getting the pipe together because the fellow that put the drain together on my pond used an excavator bucket to ram the pipe together, so a hammer and block of wood seem a little under-powered for the job. This stuff is really heavy.

The local dealer of that kind of stuff here is called "Discount Drainage" - I'd try looking for drainage, tile, pipe - search words like that.

This top piece won't have to hold much except itself. If you can find an elbow, sand/file/grind as needed so they will slide together as tight as you can hand assemble. PVC glue would only give you 15-30 seconds to slide together and twist into place. If there's a chance it will take longer than that, I'd use a lot of silicone seal, which won't set up for hours. If the silicone seal fails to hold it properly, you can always scrape it off and try something else.

I also thought about capping the pipe and cutting a slot lengthwise down the top of the pipe. That would give me 14 to 15 inches of rize, and the cap would be easier to install and cheaper. I could also cut the slot about 6 feet long and get plenty of flow. Think that this would work?

Found what I was looking for - adjustable water level control by Agridrain.

Pond level finally dropped low enough (with help from the irrigation pump) to install the AgriDrain inlet water-control box. It took my 13-year old and me 5 hours to cut open the dock, cut the floor joist, build the trap door, and install the box. My son did a great job helping but did remark that I should have done this a few years back before I got "wrecked". He did the work under the dock. My only consern is how well the rubber sleeve will seal up against the 15" PVC pipe using the two hose clamps privided. The on-line instructions did not suggest using silicon, so I started by just following directions. I also hope that ice does not cause problems. Time will tell...

Just wanted to provide an update on my Agri-Drain inlet water control box. Had some good rain a couple weeks ago (2.85" in one day) and the pond level went up 22" temporarily (drpped down overnight. I installed one 8" PVC slat in the box before the rain and it has worked very well. Because the outlet pipe is a couple inches above the bottom of the box, this holds the water level about 6" higher than before. The water level is now maybe 2" down from the top of the slat (after a couple weeks of dry weather) and it is dry in the pipe. My concerns about leaking were misplaced. The heavy rain also allowed me to see that raising the water 22" is too much, since the emergency spillway was just barely being used at this level. My waterlilies and other pond plants seem to be adapting to the new water level although some of the deepest reeds are not going to make it. However the clumps are moving up the bank. I will raise the water level another 6" in July of 2010.

Since water will seat its own level, simply add an elbow or 90 degree coupling to the downflow side of the levee and add 18" of new pipe. The water will not flow thru the pipe until it reaches the level even with the end of the pipe.

Update: My Agridrain inlet water-control box has been in service for 12 years now and it still works as it did originally except for a slight lowering of the upper PVC board due to beaver chewing... Beaver are now gone... It is located under my fixed dock which limits UV exposure, but thought that folks considering this might want to know.

Hi RAH - I'm just now adding an Agridrain inlet water-control box after having my approx 1ac pond built last year. Currently I just have a 10" overflow pipe which is doing the job.

Did you put any concrete or anti-seep devices on your piping when you installed your Agridrain device? I've read they can sometimes float if no concrete used.

Thanks for your time.

John - Northwest Pennsylvania