Hello all,

I had my rusty vertical pond standpipe replaced today with 15" dual wall HDPE pipe. My pond is ~1.5 acres in size. I am curious what I should use as a debris screen so it does not get clogged?

Here is a photo (still needs to be cut to height - the pond has been low for years due to the rusted pipe thus all the overgrown brush you see in the photos). Also, is there a fitting I can use to raise/lower the pond level when necessary?

Are you looking to buy a brush guard or make one? You can make one from pig panels.

https://www.agridrain.com/shop/c6/surface-inlets/

Plus one on the agri drain bar guard, the standard one should be all you need, I like the idea of the vortex plate too. a person could probably make some sort of protector himself but dont know how much money you would actually save.
I am not aware of anyway to make that raise and lower to control water levels unless you went with the water level control structure that I think agri drain also sells, might be able to figure out how to mount it right over that stand pipe you have, it would take some modifications but with some ingenuity could probably be made to work.
Agri Drain is top quality products btw, I use them every day, may not be the cheapest you can find but great quality product. imo Good Luck!

Thanks all! I think I will go with the Agri Drain.

Any other thoughts on a mechanism to lower/raise the pond level as needed?

All the solutions that I have seen work with horizontal pipes. A stand-alone syphon system is a possibility for lowering the water level and could be sized much smaller than your primary spillway.

The only thing that I know of is a flash board riser system, also from Agri-Drain. https://www.agridrain.com/shop/c85/manual-water-level-control-structures/

I agree with RAH that a stand-alone syphon system would be an easy solution.

You might be able to go as small as 4" pipe to save money. If it plugs, the water level would just go up to your main outlet level.

If you are minimally handy with cement, you could build a cinder block drop structure around your vertical culvert. You could put in a horizontal pipe and valve at the lowest level you desire for the pond. Just close the valve when you wish to shift to your high water level setting for the pond.

What is on the discharge end of your pond outlet? Sometimes it is easier to set water levels on that end of the system. If you can attach pipe, you could create a flexible standpipe. Basically, you just elevate the end of the flexible pipe to your desired water level inside the pond.

The other option is a turn-down pipe. You attach an elbow and a riser to your outlet pipe. (You must also build an anchor for the elbow opposite from the pipe attachment, so that your elbow cannot pop loose.) For your lowest water level, you just lay the turn-down pipe flat. The pond level will then go to the elevation of your culvert pipe at the inlet. When you want a higher water level, you can turn the pipe up such that the end of the riser pipe is higher than your inlet elevation. With a solid set-up, and a long enough riser pipe, you could theoretically achieve any elevation up to the spillpoint of your dam.

The outlet pipe suggestions will probably leak a little water. That should be fine in the spring if you rig for "high water" to flood your weeds - and you still have frequent water flowing into the pond. In the summer, the leaks might exceed your inputs, but then the water level would just go down to your "low water" setting.

Hope that helps you generate some ideas that will match your actual pond conditions. Good luck on your pond rehab!

Be careful leaving a riser on you outlet full of water in the winter. If the water stops running and becomes clogged with ice, bad things can happen.

Thanks for adding that caveat.

I doubt he can easily tie onto the downstream outlet. Just trying to spitball ideas on the page so he can come up with a viable solution that fits his pond.

(And perhaps later thread readers find something useable.)