Building a 4" siphon to drop the water in a pond!!!

Built a 4" PVC siphon to drop the water level in my current pond project.

[@joseph32380]

I thought you did an excellent job!!! I wanted to mention a few things that may make it easier for you and improve flow. I am currently studying for an exam that involves water flow in pipes. First, if you made the intake more of a funnel shape (maybe by using a coupler to go up a size) this will reduce the water turbulence at the pipe intake and will increase flow. Second, you could eliminate the one way valve on the intake and instead use a shop vac (possibly two in series) to create a vacuum in the pipe which will suck the water up from the pond and fill the whole siphon (you will need to connect the shop vac where you were using a bucket to fill with water). Keep up the great work!

[@Dirtdaddy953]

Thanks for the input! I need to get me a little 3/4 or 1" trash pump to fill the crazy thing. Getting to old to use 5gal buckets...lol!

[@brentking-gmailking2570]

Great video. I really enjoyed it. Have a great day and a great weekend. Hope your daughter won her ballgame.

[@Dirtdaddy953]

Thanks! And she did.

[@jasonlechler577]

Persistence pays off,good job.

[@Dirtdaddy953]

Thanks!! Hard on an old man....

[@benthere8051]

That worked well. Congratulations. I had a pond that little trick would've saved. I ended up with a 12-foot gap, twenty feet deep, in my dam.

[@Dirtdaddy953]

Lol! Sometimes you have no choice but to cut a hole in the dam. But, the siphons work well for dropping the level.

[@maxmacdonald7174]

Wow. Great job.

[@Dirtdaddy953]

Thanks!

[@alexlevingston]

1. So close off both ends while filling the pipe. 2. Once you've done that, open the side that's in the water first, then open the other end.

[@Dirtdaddy953]

I’ve since added a one way valve which makes it much easier. Thanks!

[@alexlevingston]

@@Dirtdaddy953 Your welcome. 😁

[@gizmo9987]

Fail, fail, fail, fail, VICTORY! the last part is the most important.

[@Dirtdaddy953]

True! But to make things easier I bought a flapper valve to put on the pond side😜.

[@jaywatts333]

put a float on the end of it to hold the inlet out of the mud. #2 put a 4'' ball valve on the outlet side. lol

[@Dirtdaddy953]

Hey Jay! Not too long after that video I put a one way valve on the inlet. Works much better. And, I have a trash pump to fill the siphon up. It was a trial run back then. I’ve upgraded it quite a bit since:

[@jackx4311]

What really makes the difference, both in ease of getting the siphon started, and maximising flow rate, is getting the outlet as low as possible compared to the intake. The bigger the height difference between the two, the better. In your original layout, if the tail end of the pipe had been extended with one more length of pipe towards the creek, that probably would have done the trick. HTH, but thumbs up for your persistence - which paid off well!

[@Dirtdaddy953]

Yeah, my first attempt at building one. I now have a one way valve on the intake side which will help with filling up the pipe completely so should have more volume.

[@Runehorn]

Put your outflow in a bucket so you don't get air back in the pipe

[@Dirtdaddy953]

I've fine tuned it now with a one-way valve on the pond side and it works great. Thanks!

[@AllstarVentures]

I’m wondering if I can add more length to the discharge side because I can’t get the discharge side lower than the intake…. Or if I’m just stuck using a pump? Intake side will be 10’ deep and discharge side maybe 3’ below grade into a nearby ditch. My pond is basically a hole in the ground.

[@Dirtdaddy953]

Hey Joey. Man I doubt adding anymore pipe would help. I’d be surprised if it would generate enough suction to overcome the suction depth. Let me know what you end up by doing.

[@AllstarVentures]

@@Dirtdaddy953 I just ran my 2” pump for a few hours today and drew it down around 3’ or so. Another couple hours or so will get it low enough for me to finish digging. 3 (small ) tanks of gas, easy enough. Thanks for responding 👍🏼

[@Dirtdaddy953]

You're welcome, good luck!

[@Dirtdaddy953]

You bet!

[@finbarrdinneen3430]

Could you just add more piping to the outside of the damm to create more suction

[@Dirtdaddy953]

Yeah, but since that video I bought a one way valve and it works much better now.