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#472314 05/20/17 07:17 AM
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My pond is now 6 years old, and last year was the first I got the anaerobic layer in the bottom few feet of water. This was easy to tell when the kid and I would swim to the bottom to fill up squirt guns with stink water. Also the stains on the chain that holds the float dock showed very clearly where this thermocline resided all summer.

I may simply plow a furrow from the house all the way down to the pond, about 900 feet and bury a vinyl pipe in it before I get the rest of the system. The pond is 1/2 acre, so would the cheapest 1/2 tubing work for this? Any diameter recommendations different from this? I was also thinking of running ethernet cable down there for kid support, power over ethernet, and a web cam. Should I put the wire inside our outside of the pipe?

Thanks!

Im trying to do this in stages to prevent sticker shock, but the largest holdup has been figuring out how to get air with no power down there.

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I would use 3/4" black plastic water pipe that comes in rolls. It comes in two different pressure grades. Either would be fine for your application but the higher pressure grade has thicker walls, is a little less prone to kink, and might take longer for a rodent to chew through. Price difference is minimal. Big box stores carry it in 100 ft rolls and it is very cheap compared to other types of tubing.

It is in the department that has home well pumps and tanks, not in the plumbing area. Buy the fittings made specifically for it (same area as pipe) as they are longer than normal. In cold weather slightly heating the pipe end will facilitate getting the fitting in the stiff pipe. If you connect two 100 ft sections together, double hose clamp each side. You do not want expansion/contraction pulling the joint apart and have an air leak.

Some of my aeration escapade. I burried the described water pipe to the pond then sinking air line to the diffuser. I used the water pipe to run part way in the water but that is a mistake. A pain in the rear to keep the water pipe on the bottom of the pond. Use sinking in the water.

initial installation

installing additional aeration stuff for more ponds

Last edited by snrub; 05/20/17 07:43 AM.

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I have put together a lot of that black pipe. I highly suggest getting the thicker wall stuff. I also prefer the bigger rolls with less joints, but you better have some help there to unspool it because you can kink that stuff a lot easier than you would think. I use a tad of dish soap and a rubber mallet to do the joints and it works like a charm!! You do need a second person to help with putting the pipe on "the other side" of the joint.


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Good points.

If you have a small propane torch (a lighter will actually do but don't burn your fingers) to slightly warm about 4" of the pipe end does wonders. I can easily join pipes myself when I do that. Hot summer day usually not needed. Cold winter day good luck without warming the pipe. I like to tighten the clamps with the pipe still warm. Don't heat too much or you will be cutting 6" off and starting over.

Letting the pipe lay out straight on a warm sunny day certainly makes handling it easier.

Can get 500' rolls from commercial plumbing places, but better have a tractor with fork lift and pipe to roll it out. I found it was actually cheaper at the big box stores in 100' rolls. Some stores handle only one grade, some both.

Back in the olden days this type pipe is all my dad used around the farm. Better stuff for running water pipes now so it is not as popular as it once was and harder to find.

Edit: my dad used to put a dab of lead based paint on the fittings to help seal them to water pressure and prevent leaks.......maybe that is why I turned out the way I did! laugh

Last edited by snrub; 05/20/17 08:09 AM.

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I ran a total of 2200' of air line to get to the last of the 6 diffusers. I used two inch for the first 1500'. Bought it at a plumbing supply in 500' rolls. I did the ditch thing but have still not buried the line. Connections have leaked on a few occasions due to line movement from weather. So I would suggest leave any connections above ground. I think I have solved the leak problems using a screw on connection when connecting two lines together. As another note I wish I had run the larger 5/8" weighted tubing to the longest sinking tubing line(150') I most likely will change that out this summer.


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I have never ran any for air, but was planning to use it this summer for air. I am concerned about the joints leaking. I am going to borrow a welder this summer and just weld all the joints. Done forever! I know a guy who has one, but surely those welding rigs can be rented?? They are so simple to use. I learned in about ten minutes with only a couple practice runs and used it to install a new 800' water line to the cabin last year. IMO, that puts all connection issues to bed forever.

Last edited by wbuffetjr; 05/20/17 09:56 AM.

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Air leaks and expansion/contraction is why I recomend double hose clamps and tightening when the tubing is warm, not cold.

One thing about air leaks, at 16' diffuser depth you are only looking at about 8 psi pressure. Even a small leak is likely to leak negligible cfm air. If burried deep, once the soil settles, the pipe is pretty secure unless a person lives in the great white north and is subject to ground heaving.

I would expect a lot more problems with expansion/contraction with the pipe above ground than burried. Daily temperature fluctuations would be much greater above ground than below.

If I lived where ground freezes in the winter (I do) I would bury below frost line (I did) if a person was going to run it during the winter (I don't) to keep ice open. The line will invariably get a dip in it somewhere where water will accumulate and provide a place for the line to freeze up and stop passing air if the dip is subjected to freezing temperatures. The instruction is to bury it so the line runs down hill to the pond so there are no dips to prevent this from happening. Unless you live on a mountain, good luck with that. You are a better trencher operator than me.

Last edited by snrub; 05/20/17 10:29 AM.

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I have used the wielding rigs for the thick walled 2" tubing (fast line is what the tubing is called in the oil patch). That line runs 6/10 of a mile from water well to the pond, and on occasion I have to repair a spot in the thick walled tubing. I have rented one a couple of times from water well people but because of someone else scerw up, they no longer rent the wielder. I understand the cost for one of the wielders run around 600 bucks and that is why I do not have one. I might have one someday.


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Ah, yes I screwed up. I meant 3/4 inch. I already have a few hundred feet of it in random pieces in the field left over from when I had an ice castle fountain from a spring. It was just a screw around project, and over the years, the piping has been kinked, cut, integrated accidentally into the pond dam... so I need new.

I'll have to special order the stuff from the store as I need 9 rolls, and they usually only stock 2 or 3 at a time.

I did use a blow torch to soften the ends for fitting together, but never used clamps as I ran that line above ground. The pipe would occasionally freeze up and force it apart when the spring water wasn't enough to keep it thawed. I preferred that over blown fittings. It would probably make sense to use some RTV glue on the fittings and double clamp when burying, thanks!

It does get me thinking about burial, frost lines, and expansion and contraction. The depth around here is/was 3 feet. Not happening on a ditch that long!

Instead of a simple straight line, I will put a loop in the tubing every joint to allow for expansion and contraction like cable TV does. That way the tension wont be on the joint. It will be tough to make a round furrow like that.

I will run this in hot weather as it is the best time to run vinyl when it is soft. It is a nightmare in cold weather, like working with a big spool of spring steel!

I am on a good hill, all the way between the house and the pond, so unless I screw up on the loops, I would be hard pressed to have a low spot where water would accumulate. It is close to a 150 foot drop from house to pond.

Thanks for all the ideas and suggestions!

Last edited by liquidsquid; 05/21/17 06:38 AM.
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From my experience, run the buried line with the least amount of joints as possible. I ran my 1" buried water line when it was hot out, and even though I blew out the water every winter, and added RV anti-freeze, I had multiple connections come apart when using stainless steel hose clamps and the grey PVC barbed connectors. I think it was because the hose shrank so much during the colder parts of the winter, and it pulled the connections apart. I had them buried about 12" below grade.

I buried some (with connections) for an air line a few years ago in late October when it was cold out. No leaks (yet).


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Those are some of the specific reasons I fuse all my joints on the mountain. You should never have to worry about them again.




I couldn't find a video I saw of someone doing this same thing only using dozers. The pipe eventually tore in half at an un-fused part of the pipe. Pretty amazing.

Last edited by wbuffetjr; 06/04/17 07:46 AM.

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