Well, have done about all I know to do. Wife and I capped the drain using a coffee can wrapped with rubber belting. I then drove it in and drove rebar in the creekbed to leverage against the plug to create a good seal. She then ran 2 hoses off our Harbor Freight 2" water pump into the 2" siphon vent pipe to fill the 6" drain (previously stated 8", but is actually 6"). At the point I could not hold the plug in any longer, she killed the pump, removed the hoses, and closed the gate on the vent pipe; I just happened to have a 2" PVC gate valve that I put on the stub in place of the 45 that goes into the pond to control the water level. This should have created a perfect seal. I then removed my home-made coffee can plug and wow, did the water come. But, it only came for about a minute, and then slowed back to the trickle that has been all week. Frustrating. We did this twice with the same results.
I also tried a gopro all over where the drain pipe opening is thought to be, but could not locate it. Had it strapped to a 16' can pole, so keeping it in the water was a challenge.
Tried grappling the area and pulled up some muck, but nothing that concerns me.
Wondering if I should try to hook the full 2" pump to the siphon vent tube instead of the 2 garden hoses? Makes me a little nervous. Dont want to do more harm than good.
Tried hiring a diver, but he would not dive it due to the risk of a siphon system. Fully respect that, even though this one is not siphoning.
Any other advice? If I had a 300' roto rooter, i could try to go up from the creek through the dam and into the pond. But I dont have one.
Rain on the way, so running 2" WP to try to create some needed capacity to prevent another overflow.
Any further thoughts?
Thanks you,
David in SC
