Pond Overflow - DIY Horizontal Drilling

[Argonne]

I have a 1/2 acre stock pond. Three sides have tall earthen berms, the fourth side is a gradual slope up into the pasture.

There is no overflow drain, and when it overflows (and it has twice in the last year), it flows out a corner of the pasture side and creates an alluvial plain in a very inconvenient area of the pasture. I need to install an overflow drain 50 feet through one of the berms to prevent this.

Due to the slopes on the berms, trenching with the (my) backhoe is not an option. What I really need to do is find an economical way to drill horizontally through the berm, leaving behind a 3-6 inch pipe which will drain the pond when it crests.

My current hare-brained idea is to use PVC schedule 40 conduit (which is cheap) as a self drilling pipe. I would cut some teeth into a coupling and glue it to one end, and clamp an irrigation hose on the other end. I would pump pond water into the pipe, and between the water pressure and the coupling "bit", drive the pipe into the hillside. At the end of a length, I would glue on another length, move the water connection to the new end, and push another 10 feet. If this scheme works, I will have my drain for about 60 bucks worth of material.

The only thing that keeps me from going out and trying this right now, is that I don't have a clue how hard this pipe is going to be to push once I get 20-30 feet into the berm. I'm going to have my water pressure resisting advancement, and the friction of the pipe against the soil. Coupled with the fact that I will be standing in my own, newly created, alluvial plain, things could become untenable quickly unless this scheme will allow cutting through that berm like a knife through butter.

My soil is Crockett Loam, which is mainly clay, and homogeneous down to below 8 ft. As such, although these berms are constructed of the spoils from the pond dig (decades ago), I expect to encounter no rocks.

Anybody ever tried anything like this? Other comments?

 

[Stimw]

Can you use your tractor in some way to push the pipe forward?
Without some kind of assist I don't believe your plan will work.
I have washed down dozens of shallow wells using 2" PVC and can tell you that just using a water hose for water gets really squirrelie and when pressure builds the 2" PVC can come 10' back up the hole relieving pressure!
Even if you could use stakes and a come-along or rope might work better.

 

[Sprinklerman]

Find a contractor with a mole or missile .

 

[Argonne]

Can you use your tractor in some way to push the pipe forward?

Yea, if I buy another 100 feet of irrigation hose I can drill from the outside of the berm and use serious power assist.

 

[Argonne]

Find a contractor with a mole or missile .

I have no budget for contractors. If I can't get this done for $200 and sweat, I can't do it.

 

[Pettrix]

Use Galvanized culvert pipe for the drainage pipe. Larger pipe diameter is better. 12" would be my minimum. Maybe 16-24 inch might be needed (depends on water amount)

Out here stock pond earthen berms are mosquito and disease havens since the water stagnates and cows poop and pee in the water they drink. Domestic cows are pretty stupid since they are bred for meat and not for intelligence (slow and dumb)

 

[Xfaxman]

I would be concerned that when completed, overflow water also will flow down the outside of the pipe, eroding the dirt.

Check out this option: Conventional Pond Piping System

 

[turnkey4099]

I wouldn't think you would need to bury the pipe all dthat deep. Hand digging wouild be possible. I have trenched up to 4' deep for 100s of feet thorugh the loam soil here in the Palouse. How to seal the piple in so no water seeps around it is a problem. t looks good

 

[jb1390]

Can you post some pictures of the berm and pond?

 

[Argonne]

Can you post some pictures of the berm and pond?

How about an annotated Google Earth image for now.

- Green line is the berm which at normal pond levels is about 10 feet higher than the water level.
- Blue line is the water path when it overflows at about 474ft AMSL (above mean sea level).
- Red line is proposed passive drain which I hope to be able to core through the berm.

Yes, when the pond is full, the water level is about 6 feet above the floor level of the house. The berm is my friend!
There are no dangers here, only the annoyance of having a stream depositing an alluvial plain right at the pasture entry gate when it overflows. I can, and do, pump the pond down when it threatens to overflow, but I would rather gravity take care of it in a non-destructive manner. Last year I pumped 200,000 gallons, but it was a very wet year. The drain pipe would dump in the pasture on a slope and take it to the ditch on the highway, along with the rest of the runoff from the pasture. As one of you alluded to, I could trench, but would that destroy the integrity of the well established berm? Don't know and won't risk it just to save getting wet once in awhile. Thanks for looking!