Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Renovating a Pond or Lake? No Rain, Need other options

I recently had Mike Otto consult to give me the best/most dependable option on maintaining the water levels on my pond.

His recommendation was a well. Like most in my area, we don't have enough rain to keep our ponds full.

I've verified I'm not losing any water other than what is consumed by evaporation and soil absorption.

I need a 50 GPM (Minimum) shallow well pump to provide a consistent water level.

We have high mineral content in our water table so it will need to be durable.

The water table is less than 20 feet anywhere on my property, several places have artesian springs.

I don't have electricity yet so I'm considering solar.

Any advice on a pump as well as solar set up would be appreciated. I plan on running the water over a rock feature with pond liner under it as a pathway to the pond.

Do you have any artesian springs at elevations above your pond? Building a spring box and running some piping would be much cheaper and lower maintenance than a solar pumping system.

Do you have another draw/ravine on your property that is adjacent to your pond? If so, you might consider building a second pond (or lined pit) there. You could use it as a grow out pond during normal conditions, and then during a drought seine it and pump the water to your main pond to supplement your more important pond.

Do you have rural electricity on one of your property lines? If so, they may be able to set a small transformer and charge you a small monthly fee for electricity. You could put your groundwater well near that location, and then pump the water to the pond. In general, water piping is much cheaper than electrical line these days. Also, the frictional pressure losses in the water line are much less than the electrical losses in a long run of wiring.

If you have a contiguous and highly permeable groundwater aquifer on your property, then the water level should be roughly equal across the property. In that case, do you have a low spot of ground near the pond? If so, that might be a good location for your well and solar pump. If the land surface is close enough to the groundwater level, you can make your own large diameter well. Also, a much shallower well makes your work installing and maintaining the pump that much easier.

Good luck on your supplemental water project!

Look up Grundfos solar pumps. 50gpm is a lot of water for a solar pump. Not saying it cant be done becuase im not sure. Years ago i sold domestic well pumps and Grundfos made solar pumps but they were meant for livestock but im certain the technology is much better today.
If i were you i would pursue Grundfos, find a local dealer and have them design a system also go tankless using a cycle stop valve or something similar. Good thing is your water table is shallow

I can tell you our situation about digging a well and maybe it will help. Our pond is roughly 3 acres in size.

We do have electricity, but instead of running wire all the way to the pond(~100 yards) we saved money by digging a long trench just below the well output. The trench empties into a tiny pond after 25 yards before traveling the rest of the way. This is time consuming and I'm sure we lose a little water along the way initially but it was way cheaper and it also allows the water to make some exchanges with the ground/atmosphere before dumping straight into the 3 acre pond.

Our measurements have us at 28 gallons per minute. We would have liked to have more but didn't want to fork out the extra money. 28 gallons per minute is still a lot of water. So far so good. We haven't experienced a hot summer yet so who knows what that will look like.

Unfortunately I don't have any springs near the pond, or a draw, other than where the pond is.

I checked on getting electricity and it's $4000 just for them to drop it across the road, $7000 if I put it where I'm wanting it.


I have a perfect place for the well about 20 yards from the pond. There used to be a windmill there. I don't know how long ago it was that it worked, we've owned the property for 24 years and it was abandoned before then.

Several people in the area use a sand point and drill wells by hand. My well for my cattle, which is on the other end of the property a half mile away is only 22 feet deep so I suspect I would not have to drill very deep. Our storm shelter by the house which is on a hill, between the pond and the well, will get about 4 inches of water coming in from the bottom. it's not far to water anywhere on the property.

Dang it, I was afraid the power company would want to charge you an arm and a leg.

So definitely on to Plan B. Sounds like a well beside the pond is probably your best option.

Fixing the windmill is certainly one option. Is the windmill tower still there? If so, that is one of the expensive components of pumping with a windmill. Is the windmill rotor and gearbox still there? That is the other expensive component. (Sometimes you can get a good used one at a farm auction.)

If the major windmill components are all gone, are the pump rods still there? If so, there is a slight chance you can pump the well just by reciprocating the pump rods. (This only works on very shallow wells.) It probably won't pump, but you can still pull the rods and get an estimate on the depth of the well.

If there are no well components left, then you can still measure the depth with a drop weight. I like using a big, heavy window sash weight. Sometimes old wells will get a crust built up in the well bore at the usual static water level. You want a big weight, so you can hammer through some moderate obstructions and get to the total depth.

Once you get your measurement of total depth, also measure the well casing diameter. Finally, note the material. It may be old and still made of PVC. If it is very old, then it is probably either straight steel pipe or a fluted galvanized pipe. IMO, the fluted galvanized pipe is the most likely to be rotted out.

You can START sizing your pump knowing the depth of the well and the diameter of the casing. However, you really also need to know the static water level, the producing water level, and the flow rate of the well.

You can readily figure out the static water level by lowering a cup into the well at known intervals until you finally recover water. The actual pumping parameters are by far the most difficult items to determine. IMO, actually testing the well is probably your best option.

Do you own a portable generator? If so, then you can buy a cheap submersible pump that runs on 110V AC and start testing your well. If not, then there are cheap 12V submersible pumps available at Amazon. (I have used a cheap Chinese 12V sump pump for several years at my farm to load water to irrigate my trees. Piece of crap still runs.)

Those types of pumps always have a trade off between lifting height and flow rate. Therefore, you need to size your pump to lift from its setting depth plus a little extra margin allowance. Then get the largest flow rate you can.

I would then test that system for a week at least, to determine how much water your well is capable of producing over the long term. Once you have determined that your well is capable of an acceptable minimum rate, THEN you can start sizing your expensive pump and solar system.

I think you will be disappointed with the flow rates of the submersible pumps. If your depth to water is less than 25' (usually), then you can utilize a surface jet pump. These are far more efficient, and you are more likely to be able to move enough water to keep your pond full.

If your existing well is shot, then you obviously need to drill a new one. However, I think it might be cheaper over the long term to build a "sump" for your well head. If your "producing" water level was at 25' depth, you might be able to dig an 8' deep sump, so you were only lifting water from 17'. It is much more efficient to "push" water, rather than "pull" water. In that case, you might be able to easily operate a large flow rate jet pump on your solar system and move the maximum water available from the well perforations.

If you do reach the point of drilling a new well, discuss all of these items with your drilling contractor. He will have excellent local knowledge of the most efficient ways to pump for a given aquifer depth and flow rate.

Sorry for the long discussion, it was the only way to throw out many of the items you need to evaluate to complete your supplemental water project.

I had a well drilled quite a few years ago. Figured to get water to the house and also send some to the pond about 100 yards away.

Well didn’t produce over 1/10 gpm. Yep, you read that right. Can’t send any to pond but I pump into a 1,500 gallon rubber tank. Then to house.

So far, so good after 20 or so years. Recently had a problem with the well pump and had it replaced. Of course, I didn’t know about it until I ran out of water at house.

Until you run out of water you don’t realize the importance of indoor plumbing.

Great information Rod.

The head on the windmill was gone when I moved here. I talked to the previous owner today about it and he said that it flooded where the windmill was and ruined the well.

They also told us when we bought the place that the creek never went dry, their family had owned the property since the 1930's. The creek stopped running the year we bought the place in 2001. When it went dry I had the neighbor clean out all the small trees and dig a couple of small holes about 1/10 acres each with a peninsula between them for training retrievers. Water only runs through the property during significant rain events but there are holes of water that never go dry.

I've only seen water over the area where the windmill was once since we've lived here but will have to look into what would need to be done to prevent a high water event from ruining a well if I drill one.

We've changed it dramatically. Here's what the area where the pond looked like in 2001.



Here's 2010, the blue and red lines are the deepest parts of the pond.



Here's June of 2024, the only time water has went out the emergency spillway.

Sorry you lost your existing well. However, a new well that is only 25' deep is not that expensive. The mobilization costs for the driller may be as much as the costs to drill the well. He might cut you a deal to drill a second well near the house (or future home site)?

My biggest water well has gone under the flood waters with no ill effects. Modern well heads can be completely sealed with threaded connections and unions.

Are your 1/10th acre water holes sourced by groundwater? If so, you might be able to pump from them. You could run a gasoline trash pump and drain one on the weekend to top off your main pond. Then let it slowly re-fill, while you drain a different one the next weekend.

Alternatively, you could set a centrifugal pump very close to the water surface of your pits and move water to your main pond. Those pumps can move a LOT of water with very little electricity. I believe they come in 12V and 24V DC configurations. However, it may be more efficient to run an inverter on your solar system and run a 120V AC pump. (We do have some actual solar experts on PB that can calculate that trade off if you get that far.)

I was considering a similar option at my farm. I was going to put the solar array on posts above peak flood stage, and put the pump and electrical equipment on a floating "dock" so it would go down as I drew down the water supply, and then back up in the case of a flood.

Any of your water holes reasonably close to your main pond? 1" or 1-1/2" polypipe is pretty cheap. Might be worth testing with a gas trash pump just to see how much water can be supplied by your water holes over an extended period.

Thanks Rod

I must have confused you with my description of the pictures.

All 3 pictures are the are the area which is now the pond in the last picture, so no other water nearby. It's on the corner of 2 county roads. Water comes in from 2-36" culverts under the road to the left on the second picture and exits under a bridge on the other road. Very limited space but the best I have on the property for a pond. They removed over 28,000 cubic yards of dirt to make it what it is.

I've been looking at the DIY well drilling processes.

If anyone has used one that worked please let me know.

Just questions.

Is it possible & economic to refurbish the old well? The creek drying up that ran for so many years seems strange. What has happened up stream? State or county, do they have an answer?

Yep on the confusion. I thought you cleaned up the water holes but they still existed.

You can DIY a shallow well, but I think you need a larger diameter casing to pump the amounts of water you will need.

I have done one shallow sand point well at a buddy's remote cabin. It was easy, but we just installed a hand pump for drinking water. I think we did a 1-1/2" point.

l assume you have done the math on your pond's water requirements. If not, here are some basics.

1 acre-foot is 326,000 gallons of water. In peak summer, if you were losing 1/2" per day that would be 27,167 gallons. (326,000 gallons/acre foot divided by 12 inches/foot divided by 2 (for a 1/2") times 2 surface acres)

That is 1,132 gallons per hour, or 19 gallons per minute.

19 gpm sounds reasonable for a small pump, but that is for continuous pumping. You will need a much bigger pump for a ten hour solar day during the summer, or a much larger solar array so you can charge a large battery pack and pump through the night.

Also, 19 gpm is only for summer maintenance. Even if you doubled your pump rate, then you would only be raising your pond level by 1/2" per day when it is very low due to a drought.

I hope that gives you some numbers to start your calculations. I would also call your local water well driller and ask him to give you a rough estimate to drill and case a 25' well. That will at least give you a dollar cost for comparison to DIY options.

These are all options that I have considered for our own farm, so I certainly wish you the best of luck on this project!

Unfortunately, the old well is silted in and was just a sand point well. It only had 1 1/4 inch pipe. As Rod stated, It will take a larger diameter hole.

There have been several ponds built upstream that have to fill before I get significant runoff.

I think we also get less rain than we did 25 years ago. When I bought the place one neighbor told me he could not believe someone bought this "Swamp" He'd ran cattle on it for years. I still have no idea why he said that, he lives somewhere in Colorado now. The other neighbors say there used to be more rain and runoff as well.