How deep to bury pipe from pump to bog?

[Pablo]

Slowly making progress with the pond. With the 10 inches of rain in July I think I have spent more time pumping the water out then actually building the pond.

Getting ready to do the plumbing. Will have an external pump going to a bog, not a long distance, about 10 feet. I am in Southern MA zone 6B. How deep do you bury the pipe? I looked up the frost line for MA and it says 32". Have you gone deeper than that, have you gone less than that, or right at the line? I will have Sched 40 flex pvc. Have not decided yet if I will be running the pump through the winter yet. Thanks

 

[Mmathis]

Sorry, I can’t help you there as I am in Louisiana, so depth is never an issue here. I never turn my bog off, but I have heard that folks in colder climates will turn theirs off in winter, and drain the tubing.

 

[addy1]

My bog piping is exposed. I turn off my external pump, remove some piping that goes to the pump. Leave the lines open. I have the ball joint you can screw off, need to look up the name. Nothing has frozen in 12 years. We are 6b. Have dropped to minus now and then.

 

[addy1]

I use this one from lowes make sure the ball valve is open.

 

[jgrandmont]

Getting ready to do the plumbing. Will have an external pump going to a bog, not a long distance, about 10 feet. I am in Southern MA zone 6B. How deep do you bury the pipe? I looked up the frost line for MA and it says 32". Have you gone deeper than that, have you gone less than that, or right at the line? I will have Sched 40 flex pvc. Have not decided yet if I will be running the pump through the winter yet. Thanks

Greetings from another SE Mass resident. My set-up is different, but maybe I can speak to the buried plumbing. I run a submersible pump inside a skimmer box. The water is pumped out the back of the box, around the perimeter of the pond and up a small hill to a waterfall box containing biological media. I used the black flex piping which is probably only buried about a foot or so. And actually, the piping at the top of the hill is exposed for around 4-5 feet. The pump runs continuously throughout the year. I'm coming up on my 3-year anniversary of the pond and have never had an issue with frozen plumbing.

 

[GBBUDD]

If you get your plumbing below 32 or even close to it we have not seen frost that deep in a very long time I have been in construction over 40 years and have never seen it deeper than 24 inches.
That said if your water is running freezing should not be an issue UNLESS you have a long section that has no flow. I too am in 6b I ran my pump last yeR for the winter and I did have issue when we hit negative 20 for those 4 days on intake line froze because the little pond it drew from is I ndersized as is and didn't have enough water.
If you do decide to shut down the pump you want to disconnect it from the line make sure all the water is out and stuff it into a plastic trash bag to keep gaskets from drying out. Two make sure Nothing is closed all pvc hard pipe and flex should be open somewhere so that when the water expands from freezing it can go up the pipe that has no pressure and not blow your pipes apart. IS this fool proof no but it does work 80 percent of the time .

Best way is below frost line or in a heated area

 

[Pablo]

Thanks everyone, appreciate the input. Pretty much confirmed what I was thinking. I thought 32 inches was pretty deep, not much info out there for this particular application so when you look it up they are talking about house foundations and the public water lines. I had already dug the trench about 12 inches, really not that long at 10 feet. Now if I can just get this done by winter.....

 

[Pablo]

I use this one from lowes make sure the ball valve is open.
View attachment 159577

Thanks. I did get true union valves, which look similar to that. I had first bought the 2 inch ball valves and thought I need to go to the gym more often because I really struggled to turn the valve. Then I saw everyone has that issue. So rather than go to the gym more often I bought the union valve

 

[GBBUDD]

Where in ma are you.

 

[Pablo]

Where in ma are you.

Norton

 

[GBBUDD]

2 hr ride

 

[Pablo]

2 hr ride

That is very nice but you dont have to drive all that way to help me finish the pond

 

[Pablo]

2 hr ride

Also concerned that my wife and kids would see your pond and then all I would hear "why doesn't our pond look like that?" I have only shown them youtube videos of ponds that are cinder block with black tubs and no plants so ours will look great in comparison

 

[GBBUDD]

Also concerned that my wife and kids would see your pond and then all I would hear "why doesn't our pond look like that?" I have only shown them youtube videos of ponds that are cinder block with black tubs and no plants so ours will look great in comparison

It's all in what you see YOUR pond to be. I swear mine was learn as you go. Add on to remove problems. I am obsessed with my pond I'm pond side every day I can be including under the large patio umbrella in the rain honestly one of my favorite times.

 

[Pablo]

It's all in what you see YOUR pond to be. I swear mine was learn as you go. Add on to remove problems. I am obsessed with my pond I'm pond side every day I can be including under the large patio umbrella in the rain honestly one of my favorite times.

Definitely a lot of rainy days this summer for you to enjoy the pond, and definitely understand why you enjoy it so much. Its one thing to have something that beautiful in your yard but it is extra special when you know you are the one responsible for making it happen.
I joke about how long it is taking, but I am fine with it. Who has ever posted here that they built their pond faster than they thought they would, lol. So I know I am in good company. And when I get down about how long it is taking I just look back at how long @combatwombat took to build and realize I am incredibly fast (just kidding!).