pond overflow pipe clogged

[BobbyLummus1]

i recently bought a property with a pond that had been neglected for 20 years , pond has a 6" pvc pipe through the damn which should keep water level , its clogged . Spillway should be last resort as I understand it . The previous owner said the pipe has been clogged for ten years . Any ideas of how to unclog it ?

 

[M-5]

How long is the pipe ?

 

[JMJ Farms]

i recently bought a property with a pond that had been neglected for 20 years , pond has a 6" pvc pipe through the be nice which should keep water level , its clogged . Spillway should be last resort as I understand it . The previous owner said the pipe has been clogged for ten years . Any ideas of how to unclog it ?

If it's clogged with debris, you can fashion a pole with a strong hook, preferably welded, attached to the end to stick down in the pipe and hang the debris and pull it out piece by piece. If it's clogged with dirt you need a trash pump with a pipe on the end of the discharge hose to blow it out. Either way is gonna take a little time but I've done both with success.

 

[Margonme]

i recently bought a property with a pond that had been neglected for 20 years , pond has a 6" pvc pipe through the be nice which should keep water level , its clogged . Spillway should be last resort as I understand it . The previous owner said the pipe has been clogged for ten years . Any ideas of how to unclog it ?

If it is packed or caked, may be difficult. Proper primary discharge pipe should be a corrugated metal pipe with a stand pipe on the entry end. The standpipe should have a trash guard. Water should enter the primary pipe at a lower elevation than the emergency spillway. You may be better served by removing the discharge pipe and putting in a new primary discharge pipe. I assume if the primary discharge pipe is nonfunctional, that water is discharging via the emergency spillway. Eventually that will erode the earthfill dam and decrease storage.

 

[TCRanch]

Welcome to our world! We ended up with a drought so we were able to run bent sucker rod through the pipe to push out as much debris as possible (may work if it's full?). Definitely not as effective as having a hook attached but since it was so clogged the rod caught the limbs, which collected a lot of the small stuff. Ended up installing a 2nd pipe, which helps. As long as we're on it & clear any debris after a big rain it's good to go.

 

[BobbyLummus1]

guessing 60' through the damn just exposed on both ends , thanks for the ideas , will sure try em . I haven't gotten serious with it yet , the water side is underwater , the back side would sure be easier to work from .

 

[3LEGGED1]

Be extra careful of the pond side of the pipe. Can be dangerous.

 

[JMJ Farms]

Be extra careful of the pond side of the pipe. Can be dangerous.

Yes sir. You better believe it.

Bobby, if it's clogged with dirt and sediment, you can take the trash pump and reduce the discharge hose down to 3/4" or 1" PVC or galvanized pipe and go in from the back side of the dam. Start with a 10' piece and just keep adding 10' foot at the time as you progress. That pump will generate a lot of pressure and you will eventually be able to break through. Once you get water moving it will clean the rest of the debris out itself. I don't know bc I haven't seen it, but I would guess that it's probably not clogged solid from one end to the other. Best of luck.

 

[City Guy]

I worked for the Soil Conservation Service a couple of summers while I was in college (I think it's called NRCS today). Margonme described exactly how we designed and built ponds in the '60's. Six inch diameter pipe sounds very small to me. Sure to clog easier and faster. Best bet might be to install a new one.

 

[Margonme]

I worked for the Soil Conservation Service a couple of summers while I was in college (I think it's called NRCS today). Margonme described exactly how we designed and built ponds in the '60's. Six inch diameter pipe sounds very small to me. Sure to clog easier and faster. Best bet might be to install a new one.

Thank you. I was a Surface Coal Mine Reclamation Specialist from July 1978 until September 1987. I was employed by the US Dept of the Interior, Office of Surface Mining. One of my duties was inspecting surface water impoundments. These impoundments were designed by Registered Professional Engineers. The state of the art at the time, required the diameter of the primary discharge pipe to be able to carry the run-off based on the acre feet of water resulting from the surface area of the watershed above the impoundment. I have never seen one as small as six inches.

 

[BobbyLummus1]

The previous property told me when he had pond built , they had to wait on the army corp of engineers to approve it ( i think ) I believe it was up to standard at that time . I believe pond is just 30 years old

 

[BobbyLummus1]

Another topic but I believe I' will drain it and start over one day . Bc it was neglected there are 15-20 year old pines on back side of damn ( on hill going down to pipe ) . These I believe will fail the dam at some time . My research tells me to cut anything under6" and leave anything over6" . Not sure that applies to the back side of dam too

 

[BobbyLummus1]

Thanks I'm going this route

 

[BobbyLummus1]

JMJ gonna try it

 

[Ebenezer]

I am a PE and retired from NRCS. 6" is fine if it is set up to store/pass the 1YR-24HR storm. Not at all an unusual size on a small dam with a well matched watershed. The easiest and safest thing is get a contractor to help you who has or will rent a decent air compressor or use a water pump with adequate pressure and gpm. Let him create a packer on the backside with a thru pipe to send the air. Then pump the air and blow the trash back out of the riser or intake end of the siphon. If it is a riser, be sure to have a decent trash guard to drop on it once you get it cleared.

 

[Margonme]

I am a PE and retired from NRCS. 6" is fine if it is set up to store/pass the 1YR-24HR storm. Not at all an unusual size on a small dam with a well matched watershed. The easiest and safest thing is get a contractor to help you who has or will rent a decent air compressor or use a water pump with adequate pressure and gpm. Let him create a packer on the backside with a thru pipe to send the air. Then pump the air and blow the trash back out of the riser or intake end of the siphon. If it is a riser, be sure to have a decent trash guard to drop on it once you get it cleared.

Ebenezer, under federal surface mining regulations, the primary discharge pipe had to pass a 25 year 24-hour storm event. As a Professional Engineer, you understand those numbers are based on the acre feet of water calculated for the watershed above the structure. I have inspected hundreds of sedimentation basins in 10 different states and have never seen a 6 inch primary discharge pipe. Of course, the difference in the design between a one year event and a 25 year event may account for that.

 

[Margonme]

The previous property told me when he had pond built , they had to wait on the army corp of engineers to approve it ( i think ) I believe it was up to standard at that time . I believe pond is just 30 years old

Bobby. Keep in mind that the regulations enforced by the US Army Corps of Engineers are focused on the impoundment. I would have to refresh my memory. In eastern Kentucky, a member of the USACE often accompanied Inspectors of the OSM on coal mine inspections. I never remember them measuring anything. As an OSM Inspector, we not only photo-documented, we measured.

Edited to add: I reviewed the regulatory obligations of the USACE. It has been a long time since I was involved with them. It does not appear on my brief review that they have specific regulations on the design of the impoundment. Their obligation is to protect navigation and navigable waters of the US. To fulfill that obligation, if your structure exceeds a specified acre feet of storage, a permit is required. In which case, the design is reviewed by the USACE. If your structure is smaller than that criteria, the impoundment was not reviewed.

 

[talltimber]

Corps approval requirement was not what I had in mind, size wise, when it was stated as having a six in overflow. Is this in a populated area, and how big is it? I'm not trying to analyze it, not qualified, just curious. Ponds around here are not governed by the Corp, ever, as far as I know (well I suppose they may be interested in a large lake upstream of a waterway they did control). Would fall under DNR or NRCS here, state or feds, or at the very least SCS office, county, if anything at all. I guess it might only depend on whether they could see it from the road or not. lol

Margo, what were you measuring? Were you measuring the pipe size only, dimensions of the levee or were you shooting elevations as well? During construction, or for an as-built/final walk-through type thing?

Keeping up with construction, site visits, in ten states would be way more driving than I'd want.

 

[Margonme]

Corps approval requirement was not what I had in mind, size wise, when it was stated as having a six in overflow. Is this in a populated area, and how big is it? I'm not trying to analyze it, not qualified, just curious. Ponds around here are not governed by the Corp, ever, as far as I know. Would fall under DNR or NRCS here, state or feds, or at the very least SCS office, county, if anything at all. I guess it might only depend on whether they could see it from the road or not. lol

Margo, what were you measuring? Were you measuring the pipe size only, dimensions of the levee or were you shooting elevations as well? During construction, or for an as-built/final walk-through type thing?

Keeping up with construction, site visits, in ten states would be way more driving than I'd want.

Over the 10 year span of my employment, I conducted surface mining inspections in Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, North Dakota, Wyoming, Alaska, and Montana including the Absaloka mine on the Crow Indian Reservation.

The design drawings for an impoundment which are stamped by a Registered PE are taken to the impoundment. All measurements of riser, diameter of pipe, depth and width of the emergency spillway are measured. The mine manager is asked to hold the end of the tape. Lol.

If we suspected that the structure was not built as designed and approved, the inspector referred it to our survey staff who would go out and shoot elevations and location coordinates.

Edited to add: I agree with your comment on the role of the USACE. Rarely are farm ponds going to fall under their jurisdiction. I stand to be corrected on that?

 

[talltimber]

No, not as I am aware. I think we were typing at the same time, possibly more than once, as I noticed that a quote didn't include an addition in parenthesis of mine. No biggie.
I was just thinking about the Corp and couldn't remember ever hearing of anyone having to have a pond approved by them. They very well could have size minimums, or specific location exceptions as well.