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Pond Fill/Drain Source-Aware Volume Screen

Screen basin volume and average fill/drain timing with pump-curve, permit, safety, and source-review gaps visible

Free pond and pit volume planning screen for municipal operators, environmental engineers, and construction dewatering crews who need a transparent first-pass water-volume and average-flow timing check before detailed review. Select from rectangular, circular, oval, rectangular frustum, circular frustum, or irregular surface-area mode. Enter dimensions to screen volume in gallons, liters, cubic feet, and acre-feet. Then enter an average delivered flow in GPM, GPH, CFS, or L/min plus pump count and a user derate factor to estimate fill or drain time. Reverse mode shows the average GPM per pump implied by a target time. The app keeps source warnings visible because real use still depends on surveyed geometry, sediment and dead storage, manufacturer pump curves, total dynamic head, discharge authorization, erosion and sediment controls, water rights, excavation and confined-space safety, and qualified review.

Pro Tip: Treat the entered flow as average delivered flow at the actual operating head, not nameplate pump flow. Before using the screen for rentals, schedules, or discharge planning, replace assumptions with the pump curve, suction lift, hose and pipe losses, treatment capacity, permit limits, water-level operating range, and site safety controls.

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Pond Fill/Drain Source-Aware Volume Screen
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How It Works

  1. Select Basin Shape

    Choose the regular geometry that best matches the screened water volume. Frustum mode is for a tapered basin with measured top and bottom dimensions; irregular mode is a rough surface-area and average-depth prompt, not a bathymetric survey.

  2. Enter Dimensions

    Enter internal wetted dimensions in feet. For aged ponds, lagoons, or pits, verify sediment, sludge, dead storage, baffles, and operating water levels before relying on the screened volume.

  3. Set Average Flow

    Enter average delivered flow per pump and choose the unit. The derate factor is a user multiplier only; the app does not calculate total dynamic head, pump efficiency, NPSH, pipe losses, treatment capacity, or parallel-pump hydraulics.

  4. Review Source Gaps

    Use the output as a planning prompt. Verify pump curves, discharge permits, erosion and sediment controls, source-water rights, excavation or confined-space safety, and qualified review before mobilizing equipment or making regulated decisions.

Built For

  • Municipal lagoon operators screening drawdown volume before permit, pump-curve, and operations review
  • Construction teams comparing excavation pit dewatering scenarios before qualified safety and discharge review
  • Environmental engineers documenting first-pass retention pond volume assumptions before source reconciliation
  • Aquaculture operators checking fill-time order of magnitude before water-rights and water-quality review
  • Mining or industrial sites framing pit pump-out questions before contaminated-water, treatment, and safety review

Assumptions

  • Basin geometry is assumed to be regular and symmetric, or represented by a user-entered surface area and average depth.
  • Entered pump flow is treated as average delivered flow at the site, not a nameplate or best-efficiency-point rating.
  • Volume is a clean-water geometry screen; sediment, sludge, debris, dead storage, and unusable pump-down volume are not deducted.
  • No inflow, outflow, groundwater, seepage, rainfall, evaporation, overflow, backflow, or recirculation is modeled.

Limitations

  • Does not model manufacturer pump curves, TDH, suction lift, NPSH, pipe losses, parallel pump hydraulics, or treatment capacity.
  • Does not determine NPDES, state, local, sewer-authority, water-rights, wetland, fish/wildlife, or dam-safety requirements.
  • Does not account for excavation safety, confined-space classification, electrical safety, fuel/exhaust hazards, contaminated water, or worker-entry controls.
  • Does not replace bathymetric survey, as-built drawings, site inspection, operating procedures, or qualified civil, environmental, pump, or safety review.

References

  • USDA NRCS Agriculture Handbook 590 - Ponds: Planning, Design, Construction source pointer
  • USGS Facts About Water and NIST SP 811 unit-conversion source pointers
  • EPA NPDES Stormwater Program and construction stormwater/dewatering source pointers
  • NRCS/NDSU pump and TDH context source pointers, plus OSHA excavation and confined-space safety source pointers

Frequently Asked Questions

A frustum is a tapered solid where the top is larger than the bottom, which is common for earthen ponds, lagoons, and pits with sloped sides. The frustum formula gives a better first-pass geometric volume than length times width times depth when the side slopes are regular. It still does not replace surveyed as-built geometry, bathymetry, sediment/sludge measurement, or design review.
The app uses 1 cubic foot = 7.48052 gallons and 1 acre-foot = 43,560 cubic feet. It also displays CFS-to-GPM using 448.831 internally, while 449 GPM per CFS is a rounded field shorthand. Use the project unit policy and current source documents where exact reporting or permit submittals matter.
The screen uses the average flow rate you enter. Real pump performance depends on total dynamic head, suction lift, hose or pipe losses, fittings, solids, water level, pump condition, fuel or power supply, and the manufacturer pump curve. Enter a realistic average delivered flow after those checks, or treat the output only as an order-of-magnitude prompt.
No. The output is not an NPDES, state, local, sewer-authority, or water-rights determination. Pumped water may require authorization, erosion and sediment controls, treatment, sampling, turbidity or pH limits, contaminated-water handling, and reporting. Confirm requirements with the current permit authority before discharge.
Only for simple vertical rectangular, circular, or tapered shapes where the entered dimensions represent internal wetted geometry. It does not handle horizontal cylindrical tanks, pressure vessels, code tanks, baffled basins, irregular bathymetry, or partially filled horizontal geometry.
Disclaimer: This screen provides preliminary geometric volume and average-flow timing prompts only. It is not pump selection, dewatering design, permit authorization, water-rights review, dam-safety review, excavation or confined-space safety approval, or qualified engineering review.

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