Looking at purchasing some property with several ponds; and wanted to hear your thoughts and/or concerns about an 8 acre pond with the attached overflow pipe. From historical google earth, the pond is about 20 years old. The pipe shown in the attached picture is about 20 ft tall; about 10" diameter; and extends away from the center of the dam a good distance such that there is no visible erosion on the dam itself. Large boulders are present where the water splashes over. Water does trickle down the pipe and there is some minor corrosion present. It looks like the pipe OD was originally coated but now is falling off. The angled pipe braces holding it the discharge pipe look in good shape. There is a secondary overflow off the side of the dam; just a natural overflow; but doesn't seem to be used as there is no erosiol evidence. It appears that this setup / pipe looks to carry the majority of the water. This year has seen record rainfall so I would think that any outflow via the secondary overflow would have shown itself.
I'm not sure if this if the outlet is a drop over pipe/basin or true siphon? There are cattails all over the damn adjacent to the overflow tube but I couldn't immediately see where the water spills over. The landowner doesn't know either; they only owned this place for a year and are selling already.
I guess my concerns are for life expectancy and stability - other than a hole in the pipe I would guess my biggest fear would be a total failure?
Sorry for I wish I would have taken more pictures. Thanks Scott in NW Oklahoma
