Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Building a dam Pipe Support has shifted

It's been a while since I posted. Everything is going well with my small quarter acre pond. It has great run-off, is spring fed, and there is a high water table, so it has never been more than 8" below the top of the riser pipe in the year and a half since it first filled.

I went wading in the other day to put an additional 3 inches of pipe on top of my vertical riser. The riser is about four feet long and then elbows through the dam. The total pipe through the dam is 40 feet. The riser and the through-pipe are 6" PVC.

While standing next to the pipe (and man, was that water cold) I felt with my foot for the concrete pier block that I had placed under the pipe at the bend. It had sunk / and or shifted a few inches, and was no longer in contact with the pipe. I don't know when it happened, but the pipe has been draining for over a year, often with huge amounts of water going through, and there has not been a problem.

It's going to be another month or two before it's warm enough to fully submerge myself in order to reset a support. How important is a support under the riser pipe? Does the water surrounding the riser support the pipe enough to offset the pressure exerted by the water running through?

VA

Bump for some answers for ya.

There is no gravitational pressure on the pipe since the water on the outside of the pipe completely offsets the weight of water inside the pipe. However having support will keep the pipe at a steady level. My riser is buried in the dam except for the upper foot or so. This arrangement works well.

The main force you will find affecting your setup is frictional force of the water moving inside the pipe.
...and possibly ice but that depends on just where in VA you are I suppose?

Don't worry too much, just re-brace when you get a chance.