Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Renovating a Pond or Lake? Stealthy pumping.. how to do it?

OK, some of you know my story. i have three ponds I am responsible for in an HOA. To have a good look at some concrete dam problems we have to take the middle pond (about 2.5 acres) down 2-3 feet.

It is lined with condos, and I am sure a gas powered pump will be pretty loud for quite a long time. Can you rent an electric pump that will move sufficient water and be quieter? Don't want the natives to get restless.

You can get electric sump style pumps at the tool rental at Home Depot. They have a fairly decent flow rate, but nothing close to a gas powered pump. It would take a couple weeks to drain a pond that size down 3 feet, but noone would know you were doing it. Maybe you could rent 3 or 4 of them, and run them all at the same time...

Just an idea.

But you cannot set these pumps in the mud you would have to suspend them somehow in the water column.

Yeah, I have one of those for my own use, but in this hot weather we need to have the circulation pumps off as little time as possible.

I just checked with my tool rental. Looks like a 4" gas trash pump is our best option. Loud, but likely faster.

If you can find one with a Honda motor grab it because they're quieter than the Mitusbishi motored ones that I've used. Ask them how long it will run on a tank of gas. If you are going to run it 24 hr. day, you might need to fill it a few times a day.

4" PVC siphons are silent, cheap, and fast! I lowered my 1.5 acre pond twelve feet in under 3 days.

Rainman, that is a good idea. Given that we are draining from an upper pond to a lower, that should work fine.

I guess you have to have some sort of stop on each end, fill it up, get it into position and let fly?

That's basically right.

But take extra care with any connections. Even a tiny leak will cause the siphon to suck air, and it will cause the siphon action to slow down and eventually stop. You'll see the water flying out of the pipe and think you have it made, then you'll wake up in the morning and it will be stopped.

What I did on my temporary siphon was use vinyl electrical tape around each joint pulled tightly to seal it. If your lift over the pond will exceed 10 feet, you'll need to use at least schedule 40 pipe on the pond side and dam top. Sewer and drain can be used on the backside. Be sure to use a 45 degree elbow on the output side to help prevent air from entering the siphon.

Using a rubber "Test" plug on each end of the siphon (little pressure on the pond side and LOTS of tightening pressure on the drain side) and a "Tee" at the highest point for filling is really easy. Cap the ends, fill the pipe at the tee, cap the tee, check for ANY leaks and repair if needed with tape, remove the submerged POND SIDE plug FIRST, pull the output side test plug LAST. DON'T stand in front of the output side plug when releasing tension on the plug---you have the force of the pond pushing on it. When the pond is lowered to the desired level, openn the tee cap to stop the flow.

Hot dog. Thanks, guys. That will be perfect. I know exactly how to construct it. I had the basic idea, but did not think of the tee to control and fill.

This forum rocks.

If you have a small trash pump around, it makes filling up the pipe a LOT easier than lugging 5 gallon buckets up the side of the dam. The first 2 or 3 ain't bad---the rest are killers!

A buddy of mine bought a cute little Honda 1" trash pump just for priming his big pump. I used a hand operated bilge pump to start my siphon... until it broke.

Yep. I have a submersible sump pump for just that purpose.

Let us know how it works and how long it took.

Will do. I think I just put it off.