Large pond silt removal

oosik · Jul 6, 2014

There are companies that will clean out ponds - and some REALLY DIRTY PONDS - using a suction system. I've HAD TO witness this system clean out a sewage lagoon for a potato processing plant. There is a small floating barge with a large pump and all the pumped material was transported, via 10" flex hose, to a large tractor with a rear mounted, multi-point injection system. This "system" cleaned the one acre lagoon in two days. It could easily be used without the tractor mounted injection system. Discharge into a small pond system that allows the water to be filtered and run back into your pond or just soak into the ground.

There can be NOTHING as foul smelling as the sludge from a potato processing lagoon. All the workers around the lagoon had to wear oxygen breathing equipment(like SCUBA). This "system" cleaned out 3-4 feet of accumulated sludge within the two days.

boggen · Jul 6, 2014

both lakes here on the farm, same winter, decided to get clogged up in the overflow pipes.

using sch 40 4" pipes. some tees, couplings, a couple valves... a couple baskets... i created a sihpon on both lakes, and it took about a day or two to drain it down to were i wanted it.

most lakes have a "d a m" on one side, were you can run a pipe all the way down to the bottom of the dame. then up over the "d a m", and into the lake.

Xfaxman · Jul 6, 2014

canoetrpr said:
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 ?

Not plain English, but worth a thousand words.