Leaking pond - Sealing Process - 03/11/24 02:10 AM
New member here
We dug a 1.25 acre pond about 2 years ago, as we were pulling the red clay to use for 2 house foundations on the farm.
The pond wouldn’t fill up, as there was not enough run off acreage to come close to providing enough water.
The pond is about 300yds long by 100yds wide. At the dam side, it is about 16ft deep and on the opposite side it’s about 7 ft deep.
Last April, I pumped the pond full from a nearby swamp about 200 yards downhill from the pond. The water did not hold, and we were losing 6” per 24hrs - until it eventually drained out. A small section by the dam would hold water knee deep just fine but above that it was no good.
I found a leak on the back side of the dam - a slow trickle, and I had. Hard time believing it could be the sole contributor to my 6” per day water loss. I drilled 6” holes with an auger behind the dam - and they filled with water the general area around d that leak - but not the hole back side.
In January, the contractor who dug the pond came back out and scraped back the dam. Said he found a wet spot in the middle. Tranched down 6 feet at the foot of the dam and filled it in with fresh dirt. Packed it all back in with excavater and beefed up the base of the dam.
I filled the pond up last week again - 4 full days of pumping and I’m estimating
Caring 3million gallons. The pond is losing 6” per day again. There is no leak on the back side of the dam this time, and not presence of ground water on the low side behind the dam.
It did only lose 3” yesterday - but I’m not counting that as slowing down.
Any thoughts on how long it should take to seal a pond?
Soil is clay. There’s definately some rocks in it and part may have some sandy components - but we are in a heavy red clay area.
When the pond sat originally we had some major erosion on the banks - not sure this is a contributor. When I look at the ravines - it’s all really read clay and super compacted.
When they dug the pond, there was one small section that had water coming up from the ground- but not gushing by any means.
I’ve looked at the slick of/damit - but really don’t want to spend the $3k or so needed to cover this big pond on a hope and prayer.
Any thoughts, experience, wisdom?
We dug a 1.25 acre pond about 2 years ago, as we were pulling the red clay to use for 2 house foundations on the farm.
The pond wouldn’t fill up, as there was not enough run off acreage to come close to providing enough water.
The pond is about 300yds long by 100yds wide. At the dam side, it is about 16ft deep and on the opposite side it’s about 7 ft deep.
Last April, I pumped the pond full from a nearby swamp about 200 yards downhill from the pond. The water did not hold, and we were losing 6” per 24hrs - until it eventually drained out. A small section by the dam would hold water knee deep just fine but above that it was no good.
I found a leak on the back side of the dam - a slow trickle, and I had. Hard time believing it could be the sole contributor to my 6” per day water loss. I drilled 6” holes with an auger behind the dam - and they filled with water the general area around d that leak - but not the hole back side.
In January, the contractor who dug the pond came back out and scraped back the dam. Said he found a wet spot in the middle. Tranched down 6 feet at the foot of the dam and filled it in with fresh dirt. Packed it all back in with excavater and beefed up the base of the dam.
I filled the pond up last week again - 4 full days of pumping and I’m estimating
Caring 3million gallons. The pond is losing 6” per day again. There is no leak on the back side of the dam this time, and not presence of ground water on the low side behind the dam.
It did only lose 3” yesterday - but I’m not counting that as slowing down.
Any thoughts on how long it should take to seal a pond?
Soil is clay. There’s definately some rocks in it and part may have some sandy components - but we are in a heavy red clay area.
When the pond sat originally we had some major erosion on the banks - not sure this is a contributor. When I look at the ravines - it’s all really read clay and super compacted.
When they dug the pond, there was one small section that had water coming up from the ground- but not gushing by any means.
I’ve looked at the slick of/damit - but really don’t want to spend the $3k or so needed to cover this big pond on a hope and prayer.
Any thoughts, experience, wisdom?