New pond dig

[addy1]

This stuff, around 5 something per tube and a tube goes a long way

Your stream does not look that wide in the pictures! Mine is only a foot at most so I needed the depth. It switchbacks down my slope, 85 feet long.

I had to cut into the slope to make the stream bed. It was my honey's idea to do the switchbacks ow it would have just flown down the hill rather than meander. On the other side of those iris is one of the small stream ponds, full of plants

 

[Nepen]

Thanks Addy! I hope Home Depot has that goop Anyway, my hope is to have a pond that has wildlife and plants as much as yours but looking at my muddy pit, I cant see it yet lol.

The stream is a little less than 3 feet at the top and almost 4 at the bottom. I guess if I want the stream bed to get filled I'll have to build a little ledge for the water to pool at the end of the stream before going tot he pond.

I'm thinking about using my tiller to help with the digging of the pipe trench, will see if my little tiller can handle these tough clay!

 

[addy1]

Home depot and lowes carries it.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Loctite-...e-Roof-and-Flashing-Sealant-1675273/203163733

Make sure the edges of your stream bed are high enough to keep rain run off out, and to contain water if it gets diverted by plants, misplaced stone etc.

I started with a mud, no plants, dug up grass, lol

The area where the pond is and hill and stream was all grass, I did a roundup kill off and started planting as I dug out the stream and pond. Since then the planted area has grown and grown. Left enough room to get the tractor down the hill. One mowing strip ow it is all planted now on the inside of the back field fence.

 

[addy1]

There is a calculator somewhere that says how much water you will need to pump to have water cover that wide of a stream bed. If you want a sheet of water coming down.

here is one

http://www.your-garden-ponds-center.com/waterfall-pump-calculator.html

a quick calculation says a 6000 gph to cover the stream bed, 4 feet
4200 gph for 3 feet

 

[Nepen]

There is a calculator somewhere that says how much water you will need to pump to have water cover that wide of a stream bed. If you want a sheet of water coming down.

here is one

http://www.your-garden-ponds-center.com/waterfall-pump-calculator.html

a quick calculation says a 6000 gph to cover the stream bed, 4 feet
4200 gph for 3 feet

So I have 4200 and 2900 but with the amount of pipe I have I dont think that's enough. Or may be I just need to run 2 pipes? I dont know. I'll run a test again after I fix my plumbing and deal with the stream later
Thanks for the info!

 

[addy1]

oh and that is not taking into account head pressure. Our stream is run by a 625 gph clear water pump, that can deal with 125 feet of head pressure. Ours slope goes up in height around 40-50 feet from the pond surface to the deck pond and around 70 feet of pipe if not more.

 

[Nepen]

I'm hoping now to dig a new trench for the pipe. I'll use the tiller to help with the clay. With that, I'll reduce quite a bit of a slope and length and turns which should help with flow a bit more...

You've been a great help Addy! Thank yoU!

 

[addy1]

Glad to help.

I ran a garden hose stream , i.e. turned on the hose at the top and watched the water flow, then turned on two hoses , it helped a lot figuring out if I liked my depressions in the stream bed, the flow, the turns etc. At each drop in level, I made sure there was a collection of water right before the drop, that was something I read years ago to do.

I have quite a few drops as it goes down the hill.

 

[haver79]

You have a great start on your new pond Nepen, way to go. Good luck working through the issues your having. I would sure go the shortest route possible for the plumbing.
Sharpening your shovel before you try to dig for the piping may help. It will be lots of hard work but so rewarding when you are done. I'm sure it will be beautiful.

 

[Nepen]

This is my plan for the new pipe - I'll use a tiller to help with loosening the soil first Hope that will make it easier for me!

 

[addy1]

That will be less angles, less piping, which will = less head pressure.

 

[Mmathis]

That's a lot of good progress you've made! Leaks are so frustrating! As much as I can, I use the PVC pipe fittings that have the deeper receiving end on the fittings as opposed to the kind that I think is intended for "drainage" applicaitons. Sorry, but I don't know all the PVC terminology. But the "drainage" type all say "not for use with pressure." I take "pressure" to mean water that is being pumped....? This probably doesn't have anything to do with your leaks, though. Sometimes that's the only fitting you can use, 'cause it's the only fitting that will work to do what you want it to.

And there is a "science" to gluing [or solvent welding] PVC together for a good and leak-free fit. I didn't read all the notes, but I'm pretty sure they covered most of it.

Wishing you the best! Oh, and good thing you got all the wisteria out of there! I love wisteria, but those roots have an evil agenda!

 

[Nepen]

TM,
I here whatyou mean, the only fitting that will work to do what I want it to!!!! that's so frustrating lol.

Sandly, we still have 2 more acres of wisteria growing wild. The ground where I dig have so many roots I almost cry because I had to hand cut the ones that poking out. I dont have padding for my pond, but hoping the 60mil is tough enough! we will keep killing the wisteria so hopefully the roots will just die on its own too (unlikely but wishing it's true)

Addy, that's the plan to have a better head pressure would help, even a little! I thought about this when I planned the pond half a year ago.. but when the time comes to actually dig, I forgot it all and just dig where ever! My husband faults, coz he wanted to place the patio in the place I wanted my pond so I had to improvised my bog and pond placement

 

[addy1]

Blame the man! lol,
Does the spray kill the roots? i.e. if you spray any roots sticking out will it kill them? I recall you mentioned something about a spray they use against it.

Mine almost ended up where I planned it, I had to move it east a little since I ran into the septic drainage pipe and a wall of rock that my tractor could not break through.

 

[Nepen]

NO MORE leak!!!! Well, one small one but that can easily be fix now I'm so happy.

So yesterday I tried to dig the new trench for the pipe using the tiller and the dingo.... Result was so bad I had to accept that my pump isn't going to be deep... Only an inch or two deep but in winter I'll drain the pipe so hopefully that will help. The clay is too hard.

Here's the new set up... Oh and I lined the big with cardboard and the stream with sand.

Then my husband got a big bag of rock (1000 lbs) and used the dingo to lift it over the big and just put the hole at the bottom... The result was good but now my pond is brown.. Can't see anything. I'll have to go buy quilt batting....

Fun time now is to put the rocks in!!!!