Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Selecting a site need lots of advice

about 4 yrs ago at the base of our ridge water
started coming up and was running across a road
that we used to go to 2 fields last year we go
the idea to dig it out so we made a hole 3' deep
and 6' by 8' overflow is 8 gal. per minute with
last years drought it was constant flow would love
to have a pond is this enough to have a 1/2 acre
pond also must biult up reserve another 2' to get
the correct height on pond if i built up reserve
will i force water back into ridge and blow it out
somewhere else we had the spring tested and it is
pure to drink also it is coming thru limestone i have no experenice sure hope someone can help as
have many more questions wish there was someone in
central pa. that could come or where can i look at
pictures yes i have been looking at these sights
and they are great but i have no brains to be albe
to see end results and budget is tight can't afford to make mistakes thanks so much for any help don

Don don't think I got the hole picture but if there is a good sight down stream from where the spring comes out of the ridge then that is the place to build your pond as long as you keep the water level below the spring then there should be no problem.

thanks doc for reply its hard to describe whole
picture you see water level is 2' lower then what
pond is going to be so need to dam up source thats
what i'm afraid will lose source i need to do this
as after we do first pond i have another 8 gal. per min. for another pond then then that pond will
have 16 gal. but first is to get this pond built
i hope 8 gal. is enough for 1/4 to 1/2 acre and to
get to pond from source must run pipe across a road we use to go to other fields to farm and i
have little fall and no other place to built pond
plus where pond will go also some wet springs th
help i hope to supply water also not sure if have
enough good material looks like a lot stone really
want this to work as it does would like to build
house in field above pond thanks for any and all
thoughts

Don is there any way you can dig down to get your two feet or alot of times you can dig into the spring and get a higher output level along with opening it up even more than 8 gpm which is plenty to supply a .5 to.75 acre pond once it is filled if you don't have the proper soil to build it though your better off looking at another site.

Doc
thanks again for reply no i must come up the 2'
so i have proper level to fill pond as my friend
roughed out sight with transit so i'm sure of level that source must be what is your thought on
it pushing water out somewhere else and i can dig
out source bigger if need be having that larger
volume may be a plus its just i'm afraid to dig
to much and lose source thanks

Hi Don I dont think that you will have any problems if you just go slow and start a little bit away from where your spring comes out if you got a ground probe and probe up hill from your outlet you should be able to find its path and determine how and where you can open this spring but if the spring exits between two rocks make sure to pull rocks away from exit as you remove them wish I could help you more I've moved a few springs before mostly to get them above water level on a new pond and it is mostly just guess work.There is not a tried and true method. Let me know how it turns out.

thanks again doc. i think i will try to get a backhoe in and do as you suggest source is at very
bottom of ridge so we can try to go into side of
ridge to open up just afraid of messing up supply
if i wasn't so dumb and could scan would send pictures because i know its hard to see what i am
saying or would be great to have someone see in
person it seems like things alwasy come hard for
me i guess thats why you really appreciate them
when it all works out will keep you posted when
we start to dig and if anyone can come up with any
help please let me know

Hi Don you might see if can drive a pipe in the sorce of the spring before you start to dig on some springs the water will rise up from a lower level in a void in the rocks or soil anyway it will find the path that has the least amount of resistance.So when you start to dig make sure that you pull the dirt from around the spring and not just dig right into it.Also in some cases you can even pipe it to the upper level that you need by installing a pipe into the spring and building a mound up around it to seal it as long as the pipe is above your water level then it will not get any pressure to shut it down.Just make sure you get a good seal and you use a big enough pipe to hold the max flo of the spring or it might break the seal of the pipe and in dry time stop the flow due to added pressure Hope this gives you another way to solve your problem let me know what happens.Doc

Doc
thanks so much will look serious at pipe idea hope
things dry up so we c an start will let you know
if do and how i make out don