Large pond silt removal

[charlz]

In this old, but similar, thread someone had suggested using "geotextile dewatering bags" for dealing with the water/silt mix you pump out.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/105196-power-take-off-driven-sludge.html

 

[tommu56]

In this old, but similar, thread someone had suggested using "geotextile dewatering bags" for dealing with the water/silt mix you pump out.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/105196-power-take-off-driven-sludge.html

Mike Roe on dirty jobs did a segment on doing this I think it was in new york,

tom

 

[SPIKER]

I would think that using some 3' high landscape fabric staked in and some hay bails would be a great filter, pump uphill and behind the fabric & hay bails...
Mark

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Now you know why DNR is hanging out, they just waiting for you to ask them to help clean out your pond Me bad

 

[forester2]

Jinman: sludge is pumped on shore not onto barge: these are pretty small units that I used to see. The hay bale, geotexile retention area is a good idea. I've done some cleaning in my ponds with an excavator and backhoe and had friends use a dragline where access was possible. Best results are when pond is drained and cleaned w/ dozer and excavator. If trees are not cleared back from edges you are going to have a reoccurring situation. If trees are on dike, you open yourself up to some real potential problems.

 

[20 20]

Well, I thought of draining it but it has a few spring water sources ( one being under water ) so even if I totally drained it I don't think it would ever get dry enough to use equipment in it. Here is a google pic of my place.. Frostburg, Allegany, Maryland - Google Maps
...

Okay, I remember your post sometime back about your long drive . I still say the best way is to drain and dig using machines. A good operator won't have a problem with an underground spring, they'll know how to work with and around it. Even if you use a suck method you're still going to have to get rid of VERY wet muck. I have to wonder if the suction method is so great then why are most jobs still done with excavators and dozers??

 

[20 20]

I just checked out your mini sucker, Piranha Mini Dredges: small & compact dredges for sand, mud, & muck. I hope you have a long time to run something like that? Compare that to the bucket on a excavator, who would you place your money on for most material being moved? That little mud sucker will take a looooooong time to dredge a pond compared to even a small or mid size excavator. I believe we'd be talking months compared to days?

 

[Wis Bang]

The waste industry uses Vacuum tank trucks w/ hydralic dump/rear opening heads...like a presvac or vactor. I've seen a vactor pump sludge up from a waste pre-treatment settling pond. it used an 8" hose that would remove the boots of any crew member who got too close...it would vacuum up cement blocks!

Even one that does not dump can reverse the vacuum pump and discharge itself. That's what most honey dippers now use to clean septic tanks.

Years ago they used 'Marlow Mud Hog' diaphram/walking beam pumps...now if you could find one of them or rent a vacuum truck, and lower the pond it could be done.

One chemical tanker trailer cleaning station I worked at had a 'trench' drain that had a settling pit. basically a 8 foot deep, 4 ft wide by 40 foot long hole w/ a 7' tall weir near one end. the trench drain entered at the mid point and the solids accumulated behind the weir. Our vacuum truck came every 3 months and he would suck the water off and blow it out into the accumulation tank and then suck up around 5,000 gal of sludge and truck it to a landfill in Michigan.

 

[Verticaltrx]

We had a pond that is about 1.5ac cleaned out about 2yrs ago. It had silted in so much that the water was only about 1.5' deep at the top end, maybe 5' deep at the dam.

Had the excavating company come in that originally built some of our other ponds and they did the entire job with a 40-ton excavator and two 10 wheel dump trucks. They first trenched through the dam to drain the pond, then cleaned it out hauling off the spoils to a spot in the woods about 200yds away. Installed a new stand pipe, repacked the trench, cleaned up, and they were done in 3 days. Total cost was about $2500 IIRC. The pile of soil that they left in the woods was literally larger than a two story house. This really is the only effective way to clean out a pond IMO.

 

[scesnick]

Getting rid of the silt isn't an issue really. Luckily right beside my pond ( on the right side of the pic) is a hill down into the woods. and a creek . No big issue with pumping it down over the bank.

The thing with getting an excavator in here is this. I don't want the bank and grass all tore up and getting rid of the silt would mean o would need a dump truck, which translates into even more money. Also, I don't want my pond out of commission for 2-3 months while it dries out enough, of it ouw deven dry, to work it with a piece of machinery.
Also, While some ponds would be easy to drain and dry, this would would be a real pain. Not only is there an underground spring feeding it, it is also fed by yet another large spring or more like a very small stream ( on the left of the pic) that runs down into the pond and is sort of like a small wetlands. Daming this up would be pretty close to impossible.

So, since drying it would be very hard and since I have a convienient place to put the silt, pumping would not only be easier it wouldn't tie up my pond for most of the summer. My kids would not be happy for sure.
I live up on top of a mountain and our swimming season is very short to begin with. The Wife says we only have two seasons up here, winter and July 10th. .....lol..

 

[Verticaltrx]

Getting rid of the silt isn't an issue really. Luckily right beside my pond ( on the right side of the pic) is a hill down into the woods. and a creek . No big issue with pumping it down over the bank.

The thing with getting an excavator in here is this. I don't want the bank and grass all tore up and getting rid of the silt would mean o would need a dump truck, which translates into even more money. Also, I don't want my pond out of commission for 2-3 months while it dries out enough, of it ouw deven dry, to work it with a piece of machinery.
Also, While some ponds would be easy to drain and dry, this would would be a real pain. Not only is there an underground spring feeding it, it is also fed by yet another large spring or more like a very small stream ( on the left of the pic) that runs down into the pond and is sort of like a small wetlands. Daming this up would be pretty close to impossible.

So, since drying it would be very hard and since I have a convienient place to put the silt, pumping would not only be easier it wouldn't tie up my pond for most of the summer. My kids would not be happy for sure.
I live up on top of a mountain and our swimming season is very short to begin with. The Wife says we only have two seasons up here, winter and July 10th. .....lol..

Just a follow up, when they did ours they did not wait for the pond basin to dry. As soon as the water drained out they were in there with the excavator, right in the mud. They would pull the dump truck near the edge and swing the excavator 360* to dump in the truck and go back to digging. Damage to the bank was minimal since the excavator basically stayed in the pond basin. The only damage was some tracks from the trucks, but since it was in the summer and pretty dry they didn't sink in much. Like I said, from the day they arrived until the job was complete was only about 3 days. There is a spring in this pond as well as a small stream that feeds it, they just let it run through the whole time.

 

[aod99]

Do you have a name for the company that cleaned out your pond for $2,500? I have two small ponds near Paw Paw WV and I am looking to have them cleaned out and have a little levy work done. They have been sorely neglected for fifty years.

 

[Biggreenavalanche]

Set up a siphon, use 8 - 10" flex tube, prime with a 2" pump, block bottom of flex tube, fill , make sure no air in tube, put end in pond, will siphon in short order, dozer or track hoe to clear sediment...fastest and cheapest way, you won't have to break the dam, you can inspect everything while your pond is down...just my :2cents: worth....

 

[scesnick]

Set up a siphon, use 8 - 10" flex tube, prime with a 2" pump, block bottom of flex tube, fill , make sure no air in tube, put end in pond, will siphon in short order, dozer or track hoe to clear sediment...fastest and cheapest way, you won't have to break the dam, you can inspect everything while your pond is down...just my :2cents: worth....

And this is exactly what I ended up doing. Siphon worked great.

 

[Biggreenavalanche]

Glad it worked for you...enjoy the results !

Rich

 

[canoetrpr]

I apologize for resurrecting this old thread. There is some wisdom here I obviously don't understand which would help me with my pond which badly needs a cleaning.

The bottom is all gravel I'm told and spring fed. Very high ground water table around here. The contractor I have hired does not think we will ever be able to pump it down enough to get an excavator in there. I'm renting a long ready excavator with 60' reach. Drag lines seem to have gone out of fashion around here.

I have a 150x125 ft pond so that get the spot in the middle - 40x60 feet.

I'm going to start pumping it out and would implore someone to decipher the siphon advice above in plain English to non mechanically inclinded guy. What is the point of a siphon vs using a pump here ?

 

[murphy1244]

Seems like you fill a 8 to 10" tube, place end in pond a see it empty your water out.

 

[SPIKER]

For a siphon to work you need FALL (inlet must be higher than outlet) so that the water running OUT of the pile sucks more water in. Once started it will run until the inlet water level sucks in air. It does not require any pumps only the fall of the water & will run 24.7 without added power if the lake refills faster then you will be stuck.

M

 

[Redneck in training]

I apologize for resurrecting this old thread. There is some wisdom here I obviously don't understand which would help me with my pond which badly needs a cleaning.

The bottom is all gravel I'm told and spring fed. Very high ground water table around here. The contractor I have hired does not think we will ever be able to pump it down enough to get an excavator in there. I'm renting a long ready excavator with 60' reach. Drag lines seem to have gone out of fashion around here.

I have a 150x125 ft pond so that get the spot in the middle - 40x60 feet.

I'm going to start pumping it out and would implore someone to decipher the siphon advice above in plain English to non mechanically inclinded guy. What is the point of a siphon vs using a pump here ?

Siphon would work only if the pond is on a slope. In example dammed ravine. Dugout has to be pumped. Another problem with siphon is that once you empty the pond enough to suck air in the siphon stops working. If there is a spring and water starts rising you will have to refill and restart the siphoning. In other words you will need a cistern with enough water to refill the siphon or a pump to fill it from the pond.

 

[EddieWalker]

I'm going to start pumping it out and would implore someone to decipher the siphon advice above in plain English to non mechanically inclinded guy. What is the point of a siphon vs using a pump here ?

Speed!!!! A siphon is only going to remove water as fast as gravity will allow it depending on the size of the pipe. Bigger pipe moves more water, but it gets really hard to work with.

A pump will move water as fast as the pump is rated for. Depending on how fast your spring refills your pond will decide on how big of a pump you need. an 8 inch pump will move an amazing amount of water!!!!!

Eddie