Pond Bottom Drains, why Im against them...

[RBE17]

IMO, that pond was built way to close to the house regardless if it had a bottom drain or not. In fact, I think it should have had two bottom drains to effectively filter it. I've read a lot of pond constrution threads where people battle BD leaks. The ones that have the most problems are the folks attaching them to liners and the ones that never test their piping joints before they back fill w/ dirt.

FWIW, having your basement fill w/ water totally sucks. They perivous owner (builder) of our house was lazy. He installed all the pool equipment in the basement and never closed the pool. Anyway, we had a fitting come loose last year and empty ~8,000g of water into our basement. We lost some books and magazines and some of my car parts got rusty, but nothing too bad. It created a huge mess and inconvenience and would never want anyone to go through it.

 

[kumdoalan]

I've read a lot of pond constrution threads where people battle BD leaks. The ones that have the most problems are the folks attaching them to liners and the ones that never test their piping joints before they back fill w/ dirt.
.

I remember I asked my boss what he think failed and there were many different answers for what might have been the cause.
But we will never know for sure now.

I remember also that the pond seemed to be working at first, it seemed to be holding water fine but something happend to the bottom drain or the drain piping during the last cleaning before the home owners took over control.

I have no idea how many 1000s of gal were lost into the basement.
Could all the water drained out during the cleaning been sent into the basement?
Was it only the water loss I noticed and replaced with the garden hose?

I dont know.
I remember sucking up tons of water, so clearly there is some sort of crack in the foundation or some way the water found it's way into the basement past the cement walls...

I also remember my boss telling me later that they may have to redo the drain tile for the basement..But in the end that house never again flooded, it never again had any problems with water getting in, so this points to the cause of the flooding being only the pond.

Do I think the pond was located too close to the house?....well, yes and no.

Ponds can be located all over the yard and in very close connection to a basement wall. But when they are located so close to a basement or a next door neighbor you are best not adding a bottom drain to the pond in that area too.

I dont think the fact that the pond was right up next to the house was the problem.
It would still be there today had the pond builder not designed the pond with the deepest end with the drain so close to the house.
Had the pond not had a bottom drain it still would be there....

However if for the reason of wanting better water filtering you also want a bottome drain, (or two drains) then setting the pond a nice distance away from the house is a good idea.
Then if down the line one day one of the bottom drains fails, "Who cares?", you just fix the problem and fill the pond back up with water, no harm done.

The danger is that if you have a large outdoor pond and have it located right next to your own home, (or worse yet have it right next to the guys house next door) then you are risking ending up with a basement mess or a day in small claims court.

 

[RBE17]

I agree BDs are cause for lots of headaches. I've read quite a few threads where people that are DIYing the job chase leaks for quite some time. One in the BD is the worst because the loss potential is huge.

Another option is to use a retrofit BD. I'm adding one to our small pond because I don't want to rip out the liner and trench for the BD. The only problem is they are an eyesore. BDs are an absolute must for filtering, though. Unfortunately, they carry certain risks w/ them.

 

[mrunlucky07]

The danger is that if you have a large outdoor pond and have it located right next to your own home, (or worse yet have it right next to the guys house next door) then you are risking ending up with a basement mess or a day in small claims court.

Any particular pond in mind?

Definite food for thought.

 

[kumdoalan]

Any particular pond in mind?
.

Mostly just the types of pond that turn up in the story on page 1 of this topic.

Thats any outdoor pond thats set very close to a house with a basement, or very close to the house next door.

There are many ways to filter ponds and many ways to run water lines to and away from filters and pumps.
But what im saying is that I dont believe that a bottom drain is a smart idea when you have a pond so close to a house.

Now Im not saying all bottom drains are wrong, and Im not saying it's wrong to place your pond next to the house.
After all not everyone has a big back yard, not everyone has room away from the neighbors to build a pond.
But I believe in my heart that if you have to or want to locate a pond next to anyone's home that you should do all you can to make sure that the pond cant leak and flood the basements.
Bottom drains are always a risk.
There are too many stories of guys who have had trouble getting a bottom drain to stop leaking, too many stories where guys come home from work to find the pond empty and the BD at fault.

So thats why i believe that ponds that are next to the house should not have a BD

 

[ewurm]

Anytime equipment fails, it can mean disaster. It's the nature of the hobby.