Greetings from Oklahoma. Our approximately 1/2 acre pond was dug in late 2008 and finally filled in 2009. We spent much of 2010 working on sodding, seeding, and sprigging around it, well as stocking and building a small pier.


During late summer last year, we lost quite a bit of water to evaporation (hard drought), followed by a cold, dry winter and spring. We were down about 5' but we're finally full again this year, thanks to a 5" rainfall that came in about 8 hours. Some (all?) of our pond water comes from runoff.

We've now acquired the acreage next to ours, and there is a well there that we'd like to use to keep our pond full (or at least fuller than last year). We have electricity very near the well and ready access to a licensed electrician. The water starts at 17' and goes down to 45'. A well guy checked it last year and said we top out at about 6 gpm but that it fills back in with water fairly quickly, so we were thinking we'd shoot for 2-3 gpm. Do you think this will even be enough to keep up with evaporation during hot summer months? We'd also like to install 3 hydrants across our property between the well and the pond to be used for livestock, garden, etc.

Sooooo, what types of things should we consider when buying a (submersible?) pump and figuring out what size line to lay? We can always upgrade a pump later, but we'd like to get the right size pipe the first time (*grin*) rather than saying, "shoulda, coulda, woulda" later.

What other questions should we be asking ourselves at this point? And what concerns should we have (if any)?

Thanks!

Taken from the Oklahoma Water Resource Board website:

•Average annual lake evaporation in Oklahoma ranges from 48 inches in the extreme east to 65 inches in the southwest, numbers that far exceed the average yearly rainfall in those areas. If that's true then:
1 acre foot of water is one acre covered by a foot of water. One acre foot = 325,851 gallons. So, how big is your pond, and where are you located in the state?

If you were in the 48" area, that averages to having 108,617 gallons evaporate per month on an average for a 1 ac pond. If that's true, you'd have to average pumping slightly more than 2.5 gpm 24/7 all year long just to keep up with evaporation.

I'd make sure of the GPM of the well. How old is the well casing and screen? If you feel comfortable with the casing and screen, I'd think a 1/2 hp submersible pump would be plenty big enough. Pipe size all depends on the length of run, but I'd run 1 1/4" or 1 1/2" poly to minimize friction loss.

When I had the well dug for the house, I had the driller put on a double length of screening. Hopefully it'll take a while to plug up!

Thank you, esshup! We are in NW Oklahoma, so we are between those two numbers but likely closer to the 65". Thanks for finding those stats for me. (I'm not lazy...just didn't know where to look!)

Our pond surface measures about 1/2 acre and the deepest point is 12-15' deep when full.

As for the well casing and screen---ummm, I'll have to ask husband those questions. And I'll have him figure out the approximate run, also. Other than getting the water to the surface, the topography to the pond is all either level ground or downhill.

I'll certainly pass along your recommendations on the pump and pipe size! Thank you BUNCHES! I'll take pictures as we go...

you can use a 10gpm submersible and put one of these(link below) inline to reduce the flow...if you are only wanting 2-3 gpm i dont think pipe size will matter too much...pipe friction is a factor when you try to push too much water through too small of pipe...i would say 3/4 inch line would run a few hundred feet with only 2-3 gpm just fine...get a roll of the black poly water pipe

http://www.deanbennett.com/dole-flow-control-valves.htm

I second the black poly pipe. The less connections you have underground the better. I suggested the larger pipe just in case they might want to pump water at a faster rate some time in the future....

Our initial plan was only going to be about 300' of pipe. But then we decided to go the "long way around" and put in the hydrants. That doubled our run plus a little more. The hydrants aren't a necessity, but they will sure make life easier.

are you going to use a pressure tank with pressure switch? if not be careful with the hydrants, you dont want to close the hydrant with the pump running(dead- heading)this will burn up your pump pretty quick even though most pumps now have thermal protection....the cost difference between 3/4 inch and 1 inch or even 1 1/4 wouldnt be much difference so you might just want to go with something bigger...sorry esshup didnt see your recommendation ...you are right the bigger would be the better way to go...especially since the cost isnt much of an issue ...almost forgot okie...if you decide to use the flow reducer remember when you open your hydrant you will only get 2-3 gpm depending on what size reducer you get...unless you can plumb the reducer after the hydrant before it hits the pond..you could have a hydrant for general purpose then closer to the pond you could have the hydrant that is reduced...for comparison a shower head puts out about 2-3 gallons per min

Thanks, Jason. As for your question about a pressure tank/switch, those are the kinds of issues we'd like input on.

The pressure tank/switch idea is a good one, but try and keep it as small as possible. You don't want the pump cycling on and off continually as you use it, it puts more wear on the motor, and runs up the electric bill.

yeah another down side to pressure tank/switch is that they are above ground and have to be protected from freezing....i have a submersible and just operate it off the breaker..no pressure tank or anything...i also took the check valve out of the pump so that when i turn it off the water in the pipe runs back down to the well as added measure from freezing...many different ways to do what you want, none of which would be that hard to set up