Going back to your original post's details, I still think a lot of the failure was that the pipe was not compacted properly(or possibly the wrong soil), not that it failed because of what style of drain you used. However, because you need to install it again, I would highly consider the siphon drain because it takes the poor quality water out of the pond.
I get the point of taking out bottom water for a siphon. somewhere I got the impression it might have had a different outcome wrt the breach, but I am not grasping the logic on that aspect. Everything I've read and heard here points to poor compaction around that pipe (and possibly soil too sandy also) and no anti-seep collars. I think I'm on your page.
I need to have a big chat with my man. Can he put in a pipe with proper compaction? He'd have to admit the original was inadequate. He normally uses the track hoe. Can that do the job? Jamming the bucket alongside the pipe? I'm fine with buying more pipe and elbows to put in a siphon.. if it doesn't cause grief with him. It'd still need compaction and collars... the bigger challenge to get right imo.
Thanks for the input & discussion
