Over the last two months We have monitored the pond water level daily. The good news is the Pond is doing what it is supposed to be doing, it is holding the storm water run off as it is engineered and designed to do. The issue we are currently experiencing is that it is not holding the water at a level high enough to run our fountain. After it rains the pond will fill and then slowly loose water to the level it has been holding steady at for the last two months. This is approximately 12 to 16 inches lower than where it needs to be to run the fountain.
Over the last two months a small group of board members and one volunteer have met at the pond on 5 separate occasions and have spent a considerable amount of hours trouble shooting and ruling out any issues with our pond mechanical systems, electrical systems, timer systems and water flow and supply lines. We obtained the engineered drawings from the county and have uncovered the debris vaults and located the main supply lines that feed our pond.
In addition we had the city come out to flush and hydro jet the line from 61st all the way to the pond cleaning out 49 years of sediment and debris so that it can be properly inspected for cracks and or damage. During this procedure it was observed that the amount of water going in is not coming out at the bottom of the supply pipe. It was further narrowed down to the 45 foot section of pipe from the grate cover next to the asphalt trail in the greenbelt to the debris basin just before the feeder pipes on the pond bank. Coincidentally, the depth of this pipe is also at the pond level and the water backs up into this pipe and holds at the same level as the water in the pond.
At this time we are lowering the water level in the pond so that we can expose this section of pipe and have it professional inspected with a camera. We are doing this to rule out any cracks in the line that would affect our water level in the pond. We are not draining the pond only lowering it to expose the pipe that may be the source of the water loss and have it inspected. Our intention is to view the results of the camera inspection, fix any problems found and then fill our pond back up. We are working as quickly as we can and hope to have this issue fixed as soon as possible.