Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Soil questions DB-200 experiences

There was a lot of discussion last year on DB-100 and DB-110 but I am not finding much on DB-200. As some of you may have seen in the thread on my pond I have a leak and am starting to plan as to how to fix it. The first recommendation I get is to remove the trees, roots, etc that I left on the north shore. The north shore was untouched during construction so it is a natural ravine and no compaction was done in this area. The pond appears to level out right where the compaction stops. So the first step this year will be to remove the trees/roots/etc on the north shore and create a 3:1 slope. This will increase the pond size from roughtly 1/2 acre to 3/4 acre. Since I will be draining the pond to accomplish this I was thinking about adding bentonite as a extra level to insure the pond will hold water. But the cost of bentonite has me second thinking this. Then I remembered about the DB-200 product. The cost of DB-200 is about 1/5 to 1/10 of that of bentointe. This has me thinking about using it but would like to hear of some experiences with this product before spending the $1K+.

I'm going to be watching this also. I still can't figure out what the final answer was on 100-110. Did it work?

A. Yes
B. No
C. Sort of
D. Could not tell

What about a new thread just for the DB100-110 results.

lassig, if possible I would recommend testing both before buying....because they both may not work. I have no personal experience with DB200 but I do with bentonite. I would request a sample of each and conduct some experiments with your own soil. See which works best. Also, all bentonite is not created equal. From what I've seen, there is no comparison to the true Wyoming bentonite.

My plan is to test it, ESS-13 and have a control pond, all in the same former pond shell. Since I will start with the ponds dry I can pretty much use any product and any application method I want. I need to partition the former pond with compacted clay, so I don't get cross seepage. I should be able to determine that by filling one pond at a time. I have managed that successfully before with the same soil so not too worried there. I hope to get similar evap as well, even if I have slightly different surface area on the three ponds. Might be educational to say the least.

I had great success with DB100 last year and have just purchased one pail of DB200. I will be applying it within next few weeks on banks to see if i can raise water level any. I will post my results. The ease of application is what helped sell me on DB200 vs DB100-110, plus supposedly it's much stronger product. If it's 5 times stronger than DB-100 then I can't wait to see the results!

I'm not sure what to make of it but the leakage on the dam has been reduced quite a bit. After applying DB 100 last summer the leak slowed but then seemed to increase almost the same amount as previously thru the fall.
I,ve been watching it since the snow melted off and as the ground dries the leak is much reduced from last year, it hasn't stopped but I am impressed.
Why can't things be simple!

I have been keeping up with the threads on these products, but havent actually read the manu. appplication instructions.

Regarding sloped sides of a pond, do you try and compact the exposed soil 1st or after application, or not at all?

After getting the rework of the pond north side (hopefully by end of May) I plan on covering the entire bottom of my pond with DB-200. My understanding is that you broadcast the product and then roll it in with a heavy smooth roller (lawn roller)

We too have applied DB-200 to the bottom of our pond. Broadcasting it with a grass seed spreader, but did not roll the product in.

I applied 12 gallons of DB-200 by hand broadcasting it on banks and into entire body of pond. It has rained 2 inches this morning and we are expecting 4-6 more tonight so stay tuned!

Have have just given up on all of these budget busting products. The test ponds I have are all problematic with rocky aquifers. No liquod gunk is going to help that. In the old days, I mean centuries ago ponds were made by a technique called puddling. Where pondmakers compressed clay and straw, like adobe, into rock bottoms and had pretty good success. I know of guys that use horse manure, and clay. And you pretty much have to prep your ponds in some manner like this before you even try to use these products. I'm going back to old school for now.

Well it rained over 10 inches in two days here which resulted in the worst flood in over 100 years in my area so kind of hard to tell what DB-200 has done at this point. My pond rose from 6 feet to about 16 feet so i'll have to wait and see when the waters receed.

Yes Belkin my cabin in Caldwell county was flooded as well. Due to western KY being mostly rural it does nto get the pub of other events. The ice damage worst in eastern US history in a few counties and now the flood. It picked up my propane tank ripped it from house and floated it 20 feet away. Mud line 8 inches high in house my neighbor said. Anyone want a good deal on "huntin' land in big buck country"? sorry to steal the thread.

Sorry to hear that Greg. Lots of unplanned work now!

Greg- I own a SERVPRO Fire and Water Cleanup and Restoration company in my area, wish you were closer and we would come help you out. We've been so covered up with jobs that I don't know what end is up right now! I've pulled 18 hour days for a week straight! Sorry to hear about your loss. On the bright side my pond is still at an all time high level...let's hope it doesn't receed!!

It's been a while since anyone has posted regarding their experience with DB-200 (a product that I'd like to try on a small leaking forage pond if it works). For those who applied the product, what kind of long-term results have you had?

My first post. Just built a new pond this past summer. Got a engineer to look at the dirt/silty sand/red clay/rocks. He said I will need clay or Bent so it will hold water. Got around 35 loads of blue clay from another pond last summer had mounds of clay let dry had dozier come in and spread the clay down in the pond. Let dry for another week finished the dozier work before fall. The clay dries like cement and holds water like a drum in the deepest part. My pond is half an acre few acres of runoff and I have my pump running water in it now. Since this is it's first year I am curious to see if it will hold? I can say that it has not gone down I have a 1 1/2 hp pump running water in it and I can see it go up everyday. Not even thinking about fish at this moment just I am happy to see it rise. I have around 6 more feet and it will be to the spill way. I am sure it will go down and until it gets saturated. I see when it rains it gets muddy but after around 2 weeks with no rain it gets a grayish green. What do you think about this? I pray it will hold!.

Did the DB-200 solve the leaking problem or do you think all of that rain mitigated the effectiveness?