Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Well for keeping pond full

I'm on a well water for my home and was wondering how can I use it also to keep my pond full, or should I consider on a separate well just for pond.The well for my house is 100ft 1hp submerseable pump 1 inch pipe from pump into house to the presure tank tee and then 3/4 inch mains from there all fixtures including outside faucets are 1/2 inch. I have never ran out of water and have left on watering lawn 24 hrs straight with no problems. (well driller said well produces 20-30 gal minute when he drilled in 1995) In 2002 they ran city water out here and aprox 200 homes around us hooked up to it. My 10 neighbors and I live in middle of these homes on private road and I have 5.5 acres with my pond so I would think my water table has raised quite a bite since. If I was to drill new well how far should I keep it from pond and what size pump and piping should I run to pond to keep it full since I don't have a big water shed ( 2inch rain pond only raises 4 inches we don't get big rains from june to october storms seem to go around the valley we live in,in this town. I have ran outside fauet to pond with garden hose and it takes all day to raise 1/2 acre pond 1/4 inch and it takes pressure away from house quite a bite. Any advice would really be appreciated.
THANKS PO
P.S. Want to thank Meadowlark for information on how to fight filamentous algae, was raking out everyday and back was killing me besides time it took to rake, pond was approx 1/4 covered everyday now after 3 weeks no more algae and you can watch them eat the stuff on top too. Thank you Meadowlark, pond looks great and the bass are getting really fat..

PO, I'm no expert on wells but I do know that well water is going to be really short on oxygen. You should be careful how fast you put it into a small pond. I would think you would want to set up a way to trickle water into the pond at a slow rate around the clock or install good aeration. What did Meadowlark tell you to get rid of filamentous algae? I'd sure like a tip on that.

PO,

Didn't you say that you were going with the Nile Tilapia instead of the Mozambique? I'm curious as to what you have observed about them...but only from an intellectual standpoint as we can only have Mozambique in Texas...and glad to hear its working for you, that's thanks enough.

I got what the fishman refered to as "a mix" of Tilapia. I got the Nile, a few white ones, and some that look a lot like a stripe bass in a way. Anyhow they all seem to like to eat the algea, I see the white ones the most, probably because they are easier to see. He said the mix was 4 different species of Tilapia.

Sorry. Forgot about the well water. I have a 1 1/2 hp pump that I feed 2" pvc pipe to the pond, in the middle of the pond it drops to 1 1/2" pvc that 90's up. Attached on top is a T, kind of looks like a bicycle bar. Attached on top are two fire hose style spray heads that are adjustable. I get 40 gallons a minute pumping straight into a bucket, my spray heads drop that down to 20 gallons per minute. I assume that shooting the water in a spray up in the air is adding oxygen. Depending on how far your current set up is from the pond will determine if you have the pressure to do both the house and pond. I would say your pushing it with the 1 hp but might could do it with a 1 1/2 hp. This is pure speculation on my part, with limited experience. You might contact a pump/well set up expert in your area.

I've mentioned this before, PO but I'll mention it again.

You can purchase for about two dollars what's referred to as a "sweeper nozzle" at Home Depot. If you point it at the center of a cinder block it will break up the water at give it very good DO levels as it enters your pond. We've measured DO of 6-8ppm if the water is injected through three or more cinder blocks. One sweeper nozzle will deliver about 2-3gpm so you could attach a four-way splitter at your hydrant and run four sweepers for a total of 10gpm with plenty of oxygen.

PO,

YOU ARE BLESSED TO HAVE A CLEAN WATER SUPPLY THAT IS CAPABLE OF 20 TO 40 GAL. PER MINUTE. THAT IS THE GOOD NEWS....

YOUR CURRENT 1 HP PUMP AT 100 FT DEEP WILL PUMP BETWEEN 11 AND 15 GPM DEPENDING ON HOW MUCH PRESSURE IT MUST PUMP AGAINST AND HOW MUCH WATER IS STANDING IN THE WELL OVER THE PUMP'S SUCTION (CALLED SUCTION HEAD).

A NEW WATER WELL MAY BE AN EXPENSIVE PROPOSITION. IT MAY BE CHEAPER TO PUT IN A BIGGER PUMP. LOOK AT THE PUMP CURVE BEFORE YOU BUY A PUMP, IT TELLS YOU THE CAPACITY AT DIFFERENT DEPTHS. JUST BE SURE YOU DO NOT OVER PUMP YOUR WELL OR YOU WILL LOSE A PUMP.

YOU WILL NEED A WELL PERMIT FROM THE WATER RESOURCE PEOPLE.

IF YOUR CURRENT WELL IS NOT REGESTERED, YOU MAY BE FACING SOME HEARTACHE GETTING IT REGISTERED. PERHAPS YOU MAY NOT WANT TO MENTION THE EXISTING WELL (DID I ACTUALLY PUT THAT IN WRITING?), I MUST BE GETTING SENILE FROM MY DAIN BRAMAGE. :p

IF YOU WANT SENIOR CLAIM (GRANDFATHER RIGHTS) TO THE WATER TABLE, YOU NEED TO BE SURE THE OLD AND NEW WELLS ARE REGISTERED. WATER RIGHTS CAN BE VALUABLE IN SOME AREAS. SEE WHAT IS THE MAX YOU CAN PUMP WITHOUT REQUIRING A EPA EVALUATION AND CLAIM THAT AMOUNT.

I DO NOT KNOW OF A LIMIT TO HOW CLOSE YOU CAN BE TO A POND, CHECK WITH THE WATER RESOURCE PEOPLE. YOU MAY BE ABLE TO DRILL IN THE POND, FUN BUT REALLY EXPENSIVE. MOST LIKELY THEY WILL TELL YOU IT WILL HAVE TO BE THE SAME DISTANCE FROM THE POND AS YOU WOULD HAVE TO BE FROM A SEPTIC TANK SYSTEM. 100 FT IN A LOT OF STATES.

IF THE SOIL IS CLAY AND THERE ARE NO RESTRICTIONS, YOU CAN PUT THE WELL AS CLOSE AS THE DRILLER WILL LET YOU. THE DRILLERS WILL NEED SOME ROOM AND FIVE FEET IS THE LEAST I HAVE EVERY WORKED IN, FIFTEEN FEET IS COMFORTABLE.

MOST STATES REQUIRE A CEMENT PLUG EXTENDING FROM GROUND LEVEL TO 30 FT. THE PLUG IS PUT AROUND THE PIPE AND WILL PREVENT SURFACE WATER LEAKAGE INTO THE WELL AND WILL PREVENT THE POND FROM LEAKING INTO THE WELL UNLESS YOU HAVE SOME SANDY AND ROCKY LAYERS. IF YOU ARE CLOSE TO THE POND, HAVE THE DRILLER PUT THE CEMENT DOWN 40 OR 50 FT, IT IS CHEAP INSURANCE.

GENERALLY METAL PIPE IS REQUIRED FOR THE FIRST 30 FT THEN PVC CAN BE USED. I DON'T LIKE USING PVC AS IT WILL BREAK IF THE GROUND SHIFTS, ALSO I HAVE SEEN IT COME LOOSE AND DROP TO THE BOTTOM OF THE WELL LEAVING A GAP FOR DIRT TO ENTER THE WELL. THE REASON I AM GROUCHY IS I HAVE FISHED OUT DROPPED PIPE, DROPPED BITS, LOST PUMPS AND PIPES, ETC. I EVEN FISHED OUT A .22 RIFLE A KID DROPPED IN A WELL I WAS DRILLING.

YOU SHOULD BE THERE FOR THE FIRST 50 FT OF DRILLING IN CASE THEY HIT SAND OR GRAVEL. YOU WILL NEED TO MAKE A DECISION TO MOVE THE WELL OR RISK POND WATER GETTING INTO THE WATER TABLE.

IF YOU CRAP UP THE WATER TABLE, IT WILL REQUIRE YOU FILLING IN THE WELL OR SEALING IT TO A GREATER DEPTH THAN 30 FT. IF YOU CRAP UP A WATER TABLE, IT CAN BE COSTLY IN LAW SUITS AND FINES.

IT IS USUALLY CHEAPER TO RUN PIPING THAN ELECTRIC LINES. YOU WILL NEED 220 V. THE LONGER THE ELECTRIC LINE, THE MORE LINE LOSS AND THE MORE EXPENSIVE IT WILL BE TO RUN THE PUMP.

WARNING...AFTER THE WELL IS DUG, MOST STATES REQUIRE THE DRILLER TO TREAT THE WELL WITH CHOLORINE OR SOME OTHER BACTERIACIDE. OLD DRILLERS LIKE MYSELF (BEFORE I GOT EDUCATED)WILL USUALLY TREAT THE WELL ON THE HEAVY SIDE JUST TO BE SAFE.... NO TIME TO CALCULATE THE VOLUME IN THE WELL, PIPING, TANKS,ETC. "JUST POUR IN THAT CAN OF SODIUM HYPOCHOLORATE AND LETS GET OUT OF HERE."

ANYWAY, BE VERY SURE YOU PUMP THE TREATED WATER AWAY FROM THE POND UNTIL YOU PROVE THE WATER IS CHEMICAL FREE... (USE A POOL CHOLORINE TEST KIT) OTHERWISE YOU CAN KISS THE FISH GOODBYE, MAKE AN EPA REPORT, PAY THE FINE, ETC.

A SMALL AMOUNT OF CHOLORINE KILLS A LOT OF FISH AND DOES A REAL NUMBER ON THE BOTTOM OF THE FOOD CHAIN.

HOPE THIS HELPS, SORRY I GOT A BIT CARRIED AWAY.

GOOD LUCK.

Thanks Guys for the great info, and for the answer to how I got to stop raking my filamentous algae. Cecil had posted that Tilapia are not allowed in Indiana and my pond just drains into a dried up holler and rarely overflows,so I thought I got to try something with this algae. So all I can say is this will be the only way I will fight filamentous algae from now on,hated the chemicals since I'm on well (my family comes first) and the expense of buying every few weeks (my wife finally gave me back my checkbook and a big hugggg and she loves the look of pond after just 3 weeks. The type sounds like( Mile ) and they are eating machines like others have posted. Great info on how to do well for pond. Might try the larger pump first on present well, since I have never ran out of water .
Thanks to all of you PO

PO, most country folk would pay dearly for a well like yours, it's more than capable of maintaining your water level to some degree. Agitate it before it flows in for oxygen, and keep in mind evaporation on a hot summer day can take away more than you can produce. If you're pond is 18-20 feet deep, that's 13 million gallons you're holding now, you probably only need to suppliment water the size of a swimming pool (15,000 gallons) unless your pond is leaking. Barring a summer drought.