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#529371 01/03/21 12:59 AM
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We have a 60 year old multifamily 12-13 acre East Texas pond. It is a weekend place, so unobserved bad things can happen. For example, in the recent rains the primary drain system has come uncoupled which will draw the lake down to low but I hope not dangerous levels. I would like to convert to a siphon system, I think. The current system crosses through the dam at a level lower than would make a practical lake level. I am lazy and old, so I would like to do it as simply and easily and cheaply as possible ( I know the joke - cheap, quick, good - pick two). Does anyone have practical ideas about how to fix the drainage without digging into the dam too much?

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Last edited by davidwat; 01/03/21 01:01 AM.
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You already have a siphon system in place!

Do you want to have a siphon system to have the option of pulling down the lake level in the future?

If that is your desire, this is my suggestion:

Wait until the pond drains down to the level of the broken connection. Set some type of crude bench mark so you know the exact elevation of the top of the vertical pipe that sets the water level in your lake. Now determine exactly how you will repair the broken connection. Wrestle the pipe to the approximate location it will be after the repairs.

Cut off your vertical pipe at the height that you would like for your lowest lake elevation. Install a tee and a drain valve attached to the 90 degree portion of the tee. Re-install your vertical pipe. (You will have to cut down the top by the amount you added when the tee was installed plus/minus any changes due to the slightly moved location to repair the connection.)

Exactly match your old pipe top elevation. (Or you could change the height slightly if the families vote to slightly increase or decrease the normal pool level of the lake.)

Repair the broken connection. The length of the pipe below the broken connection does not matter (much). I assume there is some sort of splash pad below the vertical pipe opening to avoid erosion when your pipe is running water out of the top. Make sure you don't move the pipe off of your splash pad. (Or if you need to move it to repair the connection, it may be cheaper to expand the splash pad rather than make an excavation to install the pipe exactly as it was before.)

When you want the pond to siphon down, just open the valve at the tee. If you are there to observe, you can use that valve to partially pull down the lake to any level that your desire.

Good luck,
Rod

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Thanks Rod,
We are certainly considering just redoing/repairing the current set up. We worry about the vertical stand pipe taking a hit from a falling tree while we are not around and siphoning out the lake. It already lists a bit to one side. The trees are too big and too close to the dam to remove them. I thought a system that hugs the dam or is even partly buried in the dam with a higher horizontal section and has an auto siphon function to speed runoff might protect the secondary drain and spillway sections a little better.

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[Linked Image from forums.pondboss.com]My primary plan is in the jpeg but is a lot more work, and its only advantages that I can see are that it has an auto siphon function that MIGHT speed draw down after a big rain, it has a mechanism for stopping the siphon when it occurs, and it may be less susceptible to damage of the vertical pipe by broken supports or tree limbs.

Is there something easier?

Last edited by davidwat; 01/04/21 03:38 PM.
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Here are a few pix of the problem.

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pipe leak 1.jpg Drain leak 2.jpg
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Originally Posted by davidwat
. . . We worry about the vertical stand pipe taking a hit from a falling tree while we are not around and siphoning out the lake. It already lists a bit to one side ...

This may have been what caused the break. If you go back to the original, make sure that you stabilize or support the stand pipe so that it does not list like that.


It isn't what we don't know that gives us trouble, it's what we know that ain't so - Will Rogers


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Can you take a come-along and attach it to something solid at the top of the dam near where the pipe comes out of the dam, and put the other end around the very bottom of where the pipe transitions to vertical? Have one person slowly try to pull the pipe that slid down the hill back up the hill while someone by where it came apart align the two pieces so they fit back together? Maybe have another person or two on each side of the vertical pipe with ropes pulling it back and forth in a twisting motion to help the pipe slide back up the hill as tension is put on it?


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I used a couple ratchet straps to get a gasketed elbow onto a 6" straight pipe when I could not get it on by hand.

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Can't tell for sure, but that looks like gasket-joint pipe. Likely wasn't given proper support at the bottom when it was installed.
The pipe slid down the slope of your dam and exposed the gasket, which resulted in failure of the seal.

I see a couple temporary buy some time while you decide on the best fix options.

It's already been suggested to attempt re-seating the joint by moving the lower section of pipe up the slope. I would try that
first, but I wouldn't kill myself on it. If it moves good, or doesn't move no big deal - make one end-to-end cut in a Fernco
coupling so that it can be opened up and wrapped onto the pipe joint. Wiggle the Ferno onto the pipe, slather the joint with
silicon gasket compound, slide the Ferno in place, install the band clamps and tighten that sucker down.

Or... cut the damaged joint completely out of the pipe, then use two Fernco couplings and another section of pipe to bridge
the gap that was left by cutting out the joint. This method would not require splitting the couplings to install them on the pipe.

https://www.fernco.com/dimensional-drawings/plumbing/flexible-couplings/stock-couplings-1001/1001-65


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