pumping water from pond in winter?

[hayray]

I have a bilge pump submerged in a couple feet of water and connected it to 3/4 poly pipe and running it above ground and maintaining a gradient so that it drains and siphons back to the pond, as the pump has no check valve. Question is, will it siphon back underneath the ice once ice forms or will the hose freeze at ice level? Other option is that I could get a back hoe and burry the hose underneath the shoreline and have it rise up away from shore. Any experiences? Advice appreciated, thanks.


Ray

 

[1982vett]

I would think it would freeze at the ice level.

 

[jkwilson]

It will freeze in the pipe at the water line.

I did something similar but put the pump on the dam so water drained out both ways, then pulled the suction line out and layed it on the dam so it stayed drained between uses. I kept a chunk of concrete on a rope to bust through the ice when I watered.

The best setup I ever had was a siphon with a washer to choke the flow down to about the size of pencil feeding into the drain on the bottom of a Rubbermaid tank. It never froze and once went at least 3 years without needing to be restarted. I was fortunate because the tank was along the ditch that carried the overflow from the pond, so it just spilled back into that.

 

[Train]

I'm not completely picturing your setup but here's what I'm doing. This has worked well down to -35 degrees Celsius.

I use a small submersible pump that's rated 1/6 hp. It pumps through 1 inch poly pipe into the bottom of a trough. Near the top where I want the water level to be, I drilled 2 holes that have poly pipe connected to them that lead back to the water. One is 1-1/4, the other is 2" . The reason is that I started with the 1-1/4 and it wasn't enough so I added the 2 inch. If I started over I'd use two, 2 inch holes. Now the warmer water comes into the bottom and creates quit a bit of turbulence, then over flows back to the source. Keep in mind the pump runs 24/7 and that's what keeps everything working. I know this isn't what you asked about but it's a good system.

If it gets any kind of cold where you are and you keep that hose in the water while stagnant, the water in the hose will freeze at the water level.