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Joined: May 2018
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I purchased a property a year and a half ago it has a 3/4 of an acre pond that was mostly neglected by the previous owner it has quite a bit of muck and weeds, I am in the process of evaluating how to renovate it.

Prior to purchasing the previous owner mentioned in passing that you can pull up on something? and drain the pond if you wanted to start over. I didn’t pay much attention to it at the time and unfortunately the previous owner has since died and I am trying to figure out what he meant .

There are two PVC pipes at the deepest point in line with the overflow pipe, one is 2 1/2 inches ID the other one is 3/4 of an inch ID, the 2 1/2 sticks up above the surface only a few inches but 3/4 sticks up 2 1/2 or 3 feet. My goal is to partially drain the pond to renovate the shoreline but I am scared to death to pull up on anything for fear I will never get it closed again without knowing exactly what I’m dealing with.

Is it typical to have some type of a valve at the end of a pipe that you can pull from the surface like a flapper valve? My fear is that when I pull to open a piece of trash or Muck will get sucked into the valve and cause it not to be able to seal up again.

I would appreciate any wild guesses or best practices on how to proceed.

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Last edited by GAtransplant; 05/17/18 02:05 PM. Reason: added pic
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Those pipes almost look like a way to monitor the water level visually. Not sure they would be tied to a drain or capable of flowing much volume but it is possible and it would be scary to find that out the hard way lol.

I would look at the pond and the surrounding areas keeping in mind "If you were to drain the water, where would the most logical place for the drained water to go be?" Look at the lay of the land, look for low spots where water would run off, near by streams etc.. Then look in those areas for a larger pipe.

I would walk around the pond and look for any piping that could evacuate the water. Maybe see where the natural over flow is and check in that area for pipes. Usually the drain would be 4" or much larger. Some ponds have the drains a couple feet into the water so don't be afraid to look extra hard and even look a few feet into the water. I have a pond in the family that has a 6" pipe with a 90 elbow on it an sometimes weeds cover it over. Even though I know exactly where it is, it can be difficult to see it.

If the pond has a drain like some do called the "agri-drain" those types of drains have stop logs in them that can be removed to lower the water level or drain the pond.

Let us know what you find

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To the right of the pipes in the picture there is a much larger overflow pipe that pipe goes through the dam and exits the backside for overflow my assumption was that there is a large valve at the bottom in that larger diameter piping and one of those two small pipes (probably the smallest one)is tied to that valve purely for the sake of opening and closing not actually to actually flow water through it.

I had a thought, although it gives me the heeby jeebies, strap on the snorkle mask and investigate first hand, leeches be damned lol

Im sure this will be an all or nothing proposition, in that I will have to take the plunge eventually and see what happens assuming the worst case scenario is the entire pond drains.




Last edited by GAtransplant; 05/17/18 03:39 PM.
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OK now I see what you mean more.. Here are just a few ideas.

It it is connected you might be able to verify by pouring something down the top of the pipe and have someone verify if it runs out the larger pipe..my guess is that you will probably just end up filling the pipe sticking up but it's worth a try.

If the pipe is removable it' probably been a while since it has been removed so it's likely going to be stuck. Another idea might be to anchor up in a small boat next to the pipe. That way you could be sure to pull straight up on it and if you need to put it back down then you should be able to as long as you can hold somewhat still. This might be easier said than done. A pipe wrench would allow you to rotate it and break it free first.

You might make up a plug based on the size of that pipe so that it can be shoved in if you get into a situation.

If it were me, I would try those few things and depending on the results I would probably just go for it. It seems like an odd way of configuring a drain based on my experience. Sooner or later you will need to determine what it is..

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If it were me, I would not touch anything existing and set up a siphon drain over the dam. Then investigate the existing piping after the water is drained.

Look on youtube for videos on how to drain a pond. Just takes PVC pipe, a couple 22.5 elbows, a T union, and fernco couplings...


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Originally Posted By: Redonthehead
If it were me, I would not touch anything existing and set up a siphon drain over the dam. Then investigate the existing piping after the water is drained.

Look on youtube for videos on how to drain a pond. Just takes PVC pipe, a couple 22.5 elbows, a T union, and fernco couplings...
X2!I wouldn't want to open up a can of worms!


Bob


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I guess it depends on what you are looking to do and/or willing to risk. If you just want to do the partial renovation then I would have to agree with the others and just take it down a bit with a siphon.

I personally would want to know how the pond works. It sounds like the previous owner had valuable information to pass along. But if his words were specifically "pull up on something if you want to start over" then that's what you would have to be willing to risk.

But like Red said, If you can draw it down far enough to see more of the pipes it might give you the ability to determine what they do and figure out what the previous owner meant.

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Siphon drain is a great solution, thanks! also reading back “pull up if you wanna start over” sounds like there are no half measures to that approach.

Thanks a bunch folks!!


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