Spent money I didn't need to spend on 2 acre 18 foot deep pond/lake last year. It's full of fish and at 10 foot and falling fast. I tried "Pond Seal" (bentonite clay) with no luck a month ago. Any help is greatly appreciated. I'm down in Western Kentucky with course rocky, clay dirt. I dumped 2400lbs of "Pond Seal" (bentonite) in it a month ago with no help. I don't know where the leak is. Any advice on where to go from here is appreciated. The only "chemical sealant' I can find is from some Australia company.

have you contacted the builder?....whatz he say?

Is it a groundwater pond (a bowl dug in the ground) or a pond that has a dam? How old is the pond? What type of soil is around the pond?

Ky Blue, I combined both of your posts, and deleted one. That way all the information will be in one post and you won't get multiple answers to duplicate posts.

Guy used a D-8 Dozer last year to clear out a draw and put in a dam. Dirt is hard clay but has a lot of sandstone rock in it (small pieces ranging from golfball to softball size.

Did he put a core in the dam and compact it with anything other than the dozer?

he did put a core but only packed with dozer

I was afraid of that. Since the pond isn't that old, I would try calling him back up and seeing if he'll fix the problem without it costing you more $$. I doubt that you will be able to seal it otherwise..... At least the track record of people being able to seal it without having a "drain and re-do correctly" is very dismal.

That's the big difference between someone that can dig a hole and someone that can build a pond.

Ugh - I may be better off keeping kids deer hunting. Thank you for the help.

Sorry, but I just tell it like I see it. I hope you can get it fixed tho!

Does it fall to a certain level and stop ?

As ewest is suggesting I would let the pond drain/leak until it drains no more, and then perhaps you can locate and address the leak since that will likely point to where it is. Just have to hope for a dry summer so that it doesn't keep filling back up before the leak is exposed. The problem may not be a small area of one large leak, but many small ones.

You could potentially accelerate the draining of the pond and see where it fills to and stays put.

How much truth is there in the idea that a new pond needs to saturate the soil when it is new, which is the reason for the drop in water level in new ponds?

Very common event.

We are in a drought in Western Ky so pond is dropping fast. The water is steady leak below levee which has almost come to a stop where maybe I can pinpoint leak. Does anyone know where i might could buy bentonite clay near Paducah Ky - last time I had to order it and shipping cost was awful. I'm a short drive to Evansville or Nashville. Thanks for input.

The leak on the outside of the dam is not where it needs to be stopped it's the water side of the leak you need to fix (almost impossible)... If the pond is already low I'd go ahead and pump it dry and reline with clay.. Get on the contractors A$$ for the shotty work and have him fix it..

Members here have uesd bentonite and other sealing products and they have worked - for a while. I second draining and fixing it right. It'd be even worse if your pond starts to leak again in 2 years after fixing it with bentonite.