The gully to pond project

   / The gully to pond project
  • Thread Starter
#432  
The pond where I'm transferring water is hard gray caliche lined. It has held water amazingly well so far. I'm excited about transferring the water there so I can see what it does with a bit more hydrostatic pressure.

After another 4-hr of pumping yesterday, my pond is down another 2'. As the pool narrows, the depth goes down quicker. I was going to take photos when I went to secure my pump for the night, but forgot my cellphone that was on the charger. I'll get some photos today. This is all the pumping I'm going to do until I get the seine delivered. FedEx is supposed to deliver tomorrow.

Ron, I thought about running the hose through the culvert, but to do that, I'd need to move the pump down to the rip-rap or some other unlevel spot. That just didn't make sense when I have so much hose and can leave the pump sitting up on the top where I have easy access. Yesterday, I moved the pump to the other end of the pond where my suction hose has a deeper pool of water to draw from. I added the 2nd 25' section and put the hose end in the rip-rap where my culverts run under the path to the 2nd pond's dam. I'll try to get a photo of that later too.

Hindsight is 20-20 and I surely should have waited to stock that little pond. What I'm doing would be much easier if I didn't have to worry about my fish. As the water gets low, I'm going to use a trick Brandi taught me. I'm going to put a weighted soaker hose in the water and connect it to my portable air compressor to keep the water oxygenated.
 
   / The gully to pond project #433  
Between the clay basin and the dye I put in it, I will have to say negative. It is a pale green now.
hugs, Brandi

Do you have "grass carp" and/or "catfish in your pond?
Has it ever been clear?
Ours was murky for a few years after building do to our Ohio clay being a yellow brown color. A roll of hay accidently went into the pond one year when I discharged it from the baler and it helped clear the water a lot in a few months. Having grass established all around the pond helps filter the run off too. The biggest help was finally catching all but about a dozen of the catfish that we had stocked the pond with soon after it first filled. They like to wiggle around in the bottom and keep things in suspension.
Do you swim in your pond?
 
   / The gully to pond project #434  
Hindsight is 20-20 .

Here's a little pump story that proves that. Many years ago when we first got out of the military, we rented a nice 10 acre place near Gambier, OH. It had a great place for a garden right next to a creek. Since it was quite a ways from the house we used the creek, ( up here we pronounce that as "crik") to water the garden. The weather got really hot that summer in August and I decided to buy a pump like yours that had a 4" input. I adapted the outlet down to handle a large diameter hose. In those days I was sure I knew everything about everything, so without any testing I told the wife to hold the hose, ( no nozzle, we used our thumb in those days ) pointed at the garden while I wrapped the rope around the non-recoil starter ring.
It started right up, primed itself, and coughed and blew water and air out the hose with such force she dropped the hose. It started wiggling around on the ground and then blasted solid water at such pressure it leveled the corn that was 4' high and cut off most of the tomatos and other plants before I got back to the pump and grounded the spark plug to kill it..
That 20/20 hindsight taught me real quick that I was not near as smart as I thought I was at the time. Every once in awhile the wife reminds me of that incident when I get to doing something without thinking it out first..:)
 
   / The gully to pond project #435  
The pond where I'm transferring water is hard gray caliche lined. It has held water amazingly well so far. I'm excited about transferring the water there so I can see what it does with a bit more hydrostatic pressure. .

Maybe you have the good caliche!
Next thing we know you will be setting up a grinding mill and selling it to pay for your dozer.:D
 
   / The gully to pond project
  • Thread Starter
#436  
That 20/20 hindsight taught me real quick that I was not near as smart as I thought I was at the time. Every once in awhile the wife reminds me of that incident when I get to doing something without thinking it out first..:)

Now, that's a "drinking from a firehose" story if there ever was one.:laughing:
 
   / The gully to pond project #437  
Jim, be on the look out for those pesky herons, they would love to help you on the "fish" dilemma!!

Good thing your able to diagnose and solve the dam leaks now , rather than later when your ponds have become "settled".

I had gone down I-20 to Gilbert Pitt rd last week to get a couple of loads of asphalt patch, I thought about your search for a dozar while they where loading me. They loaded me with what must have been a 14' long bucket on a huge a articulated wheeled loader, the tires where over the cab of my one-ton truck! I coulnt help but wonder how fun it would be to use it to dig myself a tank.
 
   / The gully to pond project #438  
Now, that's a "drinking from a firehose" story if there ever was one.:laughing:

Takes a brave man to confess his shortcomings on TBN
 
   / The gully to pond project
  • Thread Starter
#439  
I was out a few minutes ago and took some photos of the ponds after two days of transfer. The first photo below is the pond I am transferring water to. It is really coming up and I have a bunch more water to put into it.:thumbsup:

The next two photos show the progress on pumping the leaky pond down. The final photo shows another area where water seeps out of the pond. In the area shown, I didn't have any leaks until I pumped water into the pond from my well and raised it up to this level. When I did, I saw that seeping was bypassing the dam on this end of the pond too. What the hey?! If building ponds was easy, anybody could do it.:rolleyes:
 

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   / The gully to pond project #440  
I was out a few minutes ago and took some photos of the ponds after two days of transfer. The first photo below is the pond I am transferring water to. It is really coming up and I have a bunch more water to put into it.:thumbsup:

The next two photos show the progress on pumping the leaky pond down. The final photo shows another area where water seeps out of the pond. In the area shown, I didn't have any leaks until I pumped water into the pond from my well and raised it up to this level. When I did, I saw that seeping was bypassing the dam on this end of the pond too. What the hey?! If building ponds was easy, anybody could do it.:rolleyes:

It looks like your sand layer goes most of the way around the pond. Were you planning on putting a layer of clay all the way around to cover it up?
I hope that there is not any rain in your forecast for a little while to give you time to pump it out and for it to dry out before you get into it. Rick
 

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