Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Soil questions Pond holding water...success notes

It seems that Cheezy and Belkins were reporting the most success, and i am sure i speak for all in saying we hope they check in for a status report. I know this time of year can be "evaporative" and little rain doesn't help. I think several folks' leaks are the banks rather than the basin, so they need a fuller pond to tell if any attempted fixes have worked at all.

My situation - i got 1500 lb of bentonite and put the majority of it on the banks and some in the water, and sprayed 6 gallons of DB 100 on banks and in water this past Saturday, Aug 1st. We got a 30 minute 1/2 inch rain right at the end of the application, which was nice. we left Sunday and will not see it again until Saturday this week (it is a weekend hobby farm), and i will report what i find then. I have a lot of hope at this point.

FWIW i talked to an old timer Alabama guy last week who told me he had a friend in 1980 whose pond leaked and he drained it and lined the base with newspapers and it has not leaked a drop since.

the downside to using newspapers will probably be better educated and more difficult to catch fish. dont'cha know.

well, they already have schools so it might not matter too much in the long run

Hey guys I promise to post an update as soon as I have one. I still stand by my previous statement that it has definately slowed the leak down but can't be sure it's totaly sealed it off. Due to the fact that we are in some kind of weird mid summer rain season it's hard to report right now. You can't really tell if your pond is leaking when it rains 1-2 inches of rain every few days. We had 8 inches of rain in July and are already starting August out with a nice 1-2 incher thats falling as I speak. Also a quick mention of Louisville KY which is just above me here...they got 6 inches of rain today in a little over an hour. The entire city is flooded! Evacuation chaos! So once weather patterns calm down and hot and dry comes back i'll update you on success.

I don't think I will be able to tell for sure if the DB-100 fixed my leak until fall. Won't know for sure until the water level raises about a foot and there is no rain in sight. One good thing is that I still don't see any water seepage at the toe of my dam.

I've seen several posts where some people are using bentonite in conjunction with the DB-100/DB-200. How will they know if the bentonite or the DB-100/DB-200 fixed the problem? I'm starting to get a little more skeptical about whether or not my pond will hold once the water level rises since using bentonite in conjunction with the DB-100 was not recommended to my by the pond doctors.

i live in "chalk" (kaolin) country---the chalk mines use a product that settles chalk/etc to the bottom (research flocculants? sp) --it too is really slick---not sure if it's the same as db100 or db200--sounds like it but that is really just a guess. still i'm not sure how well any of that will maintain over the years--- if you're looking for long lasting results-- i plan on trying some of the db200 but i also plan on most of my fix to be proven such as good clay. i would welcome any news of a good reasonably priced fix... look forward to some success stories!!

I can read this all day long BUT LIKE YOU GUYS I AM REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO THE WORDS IT WORKED

You guys be sure and make time to come to the conferance in September.

My db100 came yesterday, I'll be heading up to the cabin tomorrow to apply it, the pump is already set up there so I should have it done by afternoon.
When I come back next Tues. I'll report, hopefully good news.

I think I talked to Doug the other day about getting some DB100. I am going down to my property this weekend to check on the leak. He said that if the the hole where the water is coming out is as big around as your finger the DB100 won't help. I think my leak is spread out over a couple feet so hopefully it will work for me.

Status report 1 week later. Am here at my pond and it has dropped another 6" since applying DB100 last Saturday, so cannot say that it has worked yet. Guess it is too soon, and am still hoping!!!

DB100 report, I started pumping DB100 into the pond on friday afternoon. Doug from pond doctors suggested putting in half now by the Dam where I have the leak, and the other half in about a week.
The pump was a 1 1/2 HP 1 inch 2stroke pump and it was run at half throttle and the flow valve was only slightly open to keep a small amount of db100 mixing with the output.
It took 3 1/2 hours to pump 3 gal. cause I reasoned a slow mix would saturate the Dam area best. I also would alternately put the hose deep to stir up silt to combine with the product.
I feel it's too early to have a positive result yet, and it is too hard to tell anyway as starting Sat. night it rained hard, and also on Sun. & Mon., and the dam is wet from the precip.
I will be going back up to the pond in a week and pumping the rest of the DB100 into the pond, and in a few weeks I will report on the results.

Keep us updated!
Did it have any affect on the small pond dewellers?

When the fish feeder went off that evening it took about 2 minutes before any trout fed, probably because of the very low visibility with the db100 being about 6 inches.
Each day the visibility improved and so did the feeding. When we left today the vis. was up to 37 inches, and when I paddled around the pond I could see minnows and trout jumping for bugs, and no sign of any dead fish, also plenty of frogs around.
It didn't seem to bother the Heron as he was back every day.

Glad to hear the db100 didn't seem to affect the fish and other creatures... I sure help it helps you seal the leaks!

Thanks keep us posted.

Here's to add to GA Pond Expert's observations:

Floculant Info:
Floculation

SoSauty, I don't think you're allowed to say floculation on this forum.

Dang, now I said floculation!

I did it again!

(monthy python flashback)

"What...is your favorite color?"
"Yellow...no, blue...(as he is sucked into the abyss) AAIIIIIIGGGHHHHHH!"

Pond boss needs to add a live chat area so online members could chat it up instead of waiting for pm mail. I see there are a ton of members online right now. Just an idea? By the way my pond is still holding steady and appears to only be losing water to evaporation. I can say DB-100 worked pretty well in my case but I still must disclaim results will vary! I used 12 gallons on 3/4 acre by the way.

I need to correct myself that i said we were loosing 6" per week. I took a level and straight edge to determine we have lost 28" in 10 weeks. We had 3 inches of rain in that time so we have been loosing just over 3" per week. We applied 6 gallons of DB100 and 1500 lb on bentonite on August 1. This past week i measured that we lost 3.25 inches. So i cannot say yet that the DB100 has helped. I did purchase 6 more gallons from Doug at Pond Drs and per Otto's advice will wait a bit longer to see what the first application does before applying it. Does anyone have any idea how long the DB100 remains effective at combining with other material and potentially stopping leaks?

FamerRick, seems like I remember Doug telling me that the DB-100 won't last long in direct sunlight unless it is already bound to some particles. You might want to ask Doug just to be sure.

I'm really hoping that the rains come soon so I can see if the DB-100 still stops the seepage after a draw down and then becomes saturated again.

Cheezy are you saying "saturated again" because you sprayed some db100 on the dry banks? i did. Are you still seeing loss of water level or have yours stopped seeping to the level it currently is? I am hoping this Claudette storm will get to my pond in Alabama.

Also were you the one using the 3 inch pump? if so, what distance did it squirt with it restricted to 1.5 inches? i think i am going to have to get a smaller hose to hook to my 3 inch hose just so i can handle it (the weight with all that water in it has to be a lot)

I didn't spray any on the banks. I only applied it to the water and at the time of the application, my pond was full. I'm still seeing loss of water but I believe it is due to evaporation. I'm not seeing any more water seeping at the toe of the dam.

Yes, I used a 3 inch trash pump reduced down to 1.5 inches to apply the product. I'm thinking it would shoot a good 35 - 40 feet. I couldn't even imaging using a 3 inch discharge.

Thanks for the info.

Well - 1.5 inches of rain in a short time Friday night so I know there was runoff into my pond. the level Saturday was 1 inch below where it was 1 week ago. With the rain and runoff and I just don't know. The 2 wet spots down from the dam were still rather wet, but I was looking at them just a day after the big rain, so I am just reporting in to say I don't know and am holding off a little longer to apply the second 6 gallons of db100.

Does anyone have suggestions of something other than bentonite to put in the pond to bind with the db100, especially if it is cheap or free?