Laying drain part II

[Richard]

Behind house, am trenching to lay schedule 40 pipe that will carry away water from two downspouts.

We are building/digging a pond with waterfall also (small). I am thinking I might run a drain line to the pond so that I can "regulate" the water level and it will never overflow. I will run this overflow into my 4" pipe.

Question:

1. any warnings I might want to know early on? (sort of like NOT using ditch witch TWICE on same trench to deepen it!!)/w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif boy was THAT a mistake

2. I'm running 4" pipe everywhere, but obviously don't need 4" for overflow, should I use 3/4?, 1 1/2, 2"?? I have all the parts needed to plumb as small as 3/4 all the way to 2". I don't want to UNDER do it, but I don't want to OVER do it either. This will be a simple pipe sticking vertical in the water somewhere.

3. Given this is an overflow tube, should I put a p-trap in it? or is that using overkill?

I mention overkill because I built a "cathouse" for my kitties. You know, the typical cat house, arched entryway, TWO floors, insulated, thermostatically controlled heater you know, the typical stuff /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif. I WAS going to put in windows, but since I used stuff lying around the house, I didn't want to put in 36" wide windows /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif Anyway, about overbuild, I used 2x6's for framing & roof. Marion laughs at me, but it was all scrap and I only had to buy a piece of T-11 siding so I could stain it to match the big house!!


Thanks for thoughs on drainage

Richard

 

[jinman]

Richard, I would not use a p-trap because it is designed to keep sewer gases from coming back into your house through the drain. It just has no use here (that I can see). Also, if you want to get an idea of what size pipe to use for an overflow, you have to know what the maximum water flow will be. If you don't know, my suggestion would always be to go with the largest size available. Nobody ever complained about a drain that works "too good" /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif.


JimI

 

[Richard]

Thanks JimI,

I HOPE the maximum water flow will only be rain water runoff. A larger picture of what we're doing is a holding pond maybe 4 or 5 feet diamater creating the waterfall into the lower pond maybe up to 10 feet diamater. The waterfall will probably be no more than 3 feet high. The lower pond will be "in" the patio area and will also receive I suspect, runoff from the patio from rain. That is essentially my angle. This isn't for gushers, just a way to try to insure that any rain runoff that gets in here will simply motor down the tube instead of overflowing the pond.

I originally planned on 2" simply from the strength aspect of it compared to 3/4". Now, I contemplate 3/4 thinking that will probably work and further, it will be easier to work with from an assembly standpoint (and trenching, now being done by hand) /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif THEN I contemplate that the 2" will swallow things that might clog up the 3/4

Back & forth & back & forth......Yes, I imagine I sometimes drive me nuts! /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

Richard

 

[jinman]

Now I see. Thanks for the more detailed description. All I really have to add ('cause I'm not a expert here /w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif) is that 3/4" pipe is likely to clog up from debris. I'd go with a larger pipe, because if it does clog up, it is much easier to find a drain auger or other device sized for a sink drain than for 3/4" pipe. Of course, if it is a short run, a coat hanger could easily do the job. If you wonder about flow. Put a funnel into the 3/4" pipe and pour in water to see what your volumetric (big word alert) flow will be.


JimI

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Use the larger pipe and avoid clogs with a screen or hardware cloth over entrance. I just spent all my free time for a couple months unclogging a pond drain (6" diameter steel pipe over 120 ft long) When weather warmed up two of us went into the pond and pulled out a 14 foot long root mass. Looked like a father time cartoon beard.

Patrick