How much of a "drop" (slope?) is needed for a stream???

[Mmathis]

Getting very close to tying the turtle bog in with the pond via a little stream. Our backyard is flat, so in order to compensate, the turtle bog is elevated with a large sloping berm surrounding it -- so the turtles can climb up the little landscaped hill to get to their "watering hole."

As it stands right now, there is only a 3" difference in height between the bottom of the bog opening [weir?] and the top of the pond edge, and it might end up being even less once I get the stream constructed...... Is a drop of 3" going to be adequate for the stream? The stream will be approx. 10' long, actually a little more, 'cause I'll build in a few curves.

If I need to make any corrections [as in, add height to the turtle bog walls and raise the weir height], now is the time!

Over-view, with the red line indicating the 10' path of the stream.

 

[tbendl]

I honestly don't know but 3" over a 10' span isn't much drop at all. Can you try and run some water down it now and see how it flows?

 

[Dirty Dawg]

3" over ten feet is pretty flat, but water will indeed run that way. How much water you talking?

 

[Mmathis]

I honestly don't know but 3" over a 10' span isn't much drop at all. Can you try and run some water down it now and see how it flows?

The stream isn't built yet -- there's just a void where it's waiting to become a stream....

3" over ten feet is pretty flat, but water will indeed run that way. How much water you talking?

Explain what you mean by "how much water," as I'm not sure how to answer that...... I know what you mean, but not how to answer..... It's not going to be a gushing stream, just a gentle return from the little turtle bog back into the pond -- I have no idea how to calculate the GPH, or even to say what the flow rate will be until I eventually hook it up and see what works after some tweaking. The turtle bog is about 6' x 3' x 14" deep, and the outflow area is about 12" wide, if that helps. Sorry that I can't be more specific..... Oh, and the stream won't be more than maybe 12" wide in some places [narrower in others], a few inches deep, with at least one "pool" area. Think miniature scale here, because it's in the turtle habitat and needs to fit that scale.

Yeah, I was hoping for a little more difference in height, but that's how it turned out. Had I been more of an engineer, I would have initially made the walls of the bog higher, but even at the time I was building it, I thought I was already going too high. I'm about to go to Home Depot, so think I'll pick up some bricks and concrete adhesive. I think there's enough liner that I can glue another layer of bricks along the top edge.

 

[dieselplower]

No slope is needed. 0" would work.

 

[Mmathis]

No slope is needed. 0" would work.

Explain...

 

[tbendl]

I'm guessing that if you have something pushing water from 1 side, it'll propel the water eventually out the other side. But I started with "I'm guessing".

 

[tbendl]

Kinda like right now when I spilled my glass of water right after hitting post reply and it spewed all over the other side of my desk... Dag nabbit

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Well, you actually don't need any slope as long as the exit wall is lower than the rest. The bottom of the stream I used to have actually sloped up, but because the exit into my pond was lower than the rest of the stream walls, it worked as a stream.

This is how my stream was:

 

[Mucky_Waters]

Is a drop of 3" going to be adequate for the stream? The stream will be approx. 10' long, actually a little more, 'cause I'll build in a few curves.
View attachment 75439

You need very little slope at all actually. As long as your turtle bog is higher than your main pond the water will flow down hill. It all depends on whether you want a fast flowing stream, or a meandering brook?
Not that it's particularly relevant to this situation, but plumbing drain pipes have a standard of 1/4" per foot of slope, so your 3" in ten foot exceeds that by a small margin.
3" will be fine.

 

[addy1]

My arizona pond, the stream was 45 feet long with just a 3 inch drop, it did fine. Flowed beautifully

 

[Mmathis]

Thanks, all! I feel a little better now!

 

[Lisaebetten]

water will always take the path of least resistance no matter how small. Even if your rocks get a little dammed up the power behind it will push the water over. My stream has a 6" drop and its like the Grand River!

 

[dieselplower]

If you're sucking water out of one end and putting it back in the other side, it has no choice but to go back towards the side it's being pumped from...

 

[JohnHuff]

Technically, no slope is needed.