Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Property Projects & Construction Vertical overflow pipe question

Hi Folks,

I recently purchased my family's farm in rural Virginia. My grandfather had a 1 acre pond built in the mid 1970s. It has a massive dam, an emergency spillway, and a vertical metal pipe that is about 15' off the dam in the deepest spot of the pond, and connects to a horizontal pipe that runs under the dam (very very very deep in the ground) and out to the original creek. The metal pipe has a rabar "screen" on top to prevent large debris and has been working perfectly since the pond was built.

Here we are 40+ years later and I'm looking at that metal pipe head w/ screen sticking out the water and I have to ask myself - how much longer is that pipe going to last? I've been in scuba equipment to the bottom of the pond and it just goes straight into the mud. It is a heavy metal pipe that still feels strong - but one leak and that pond is going to start to drain.

Is this something I should be concerned about? If so, is it something I should think about addressing now? If so, what would I even do about this situation? Any advice would be much appreciated.

-Jeff

I'm sure you will get better advise but if it was mine I wouldn't worry about too much until you see a problem. Then I would pump the pond down below the leak, plug the outfall end of the pipe and fill the whole thing with concrete. Then I would install a siphon.

Yes, that's what I'm tempted to do. My only concern is that the pond is incredibly healthy with a fantastic crop of bass and bluegill. We can regularly pull 4-5 pounds out of this pond with the occasional bass pushing closer to 8-9#. It would be a devastating loss if the pond were to suddenly go dry. And if that pipe were to rupture near the bottom, it wouldn't take long. Maybe a day or two and that pond would be drained.

I'll research siphons. My only beef with the pond is that the drain pipe skims off the warm water when it starts to overflow and the pond gets quite chilly for swimming even in the heat of summer. If it could pull water from 6-7' down that problem would be solved. Although I guess a warmer pond might change up the chemistry/habitat in ways I might not expect.

I had the exact system you have. 2yrs ago I drove up to my pond expecting to fish but only saw a muddy hole. The pipe had got a massive hole in it! It will get a hole in it but it may be a long time or tommorrow

My neighbor has a big ball valve on the output end of his pipe. He keeps it closed unless we are expecting a big rain and he wants to get ahead of it.

James, how did it happen?