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

OK jlodestro, thanks for the info, I'm probably gonna order some DB-100 soon, if it works it can help cure my winterkill problem by allowing my pond to hold it's water level.

Dear Jim: I got your fax and wanted to reply, As you can see, my email was broken until today (06/12/2009). Here is what I had planned to send to Pond Boss a month ago.

Dear Folks at Pond Boss, I am Dr. Tom Biller, one of the Tennessee Pond Doctors. My father was the original pond doctor. He is now in heaven caring for all the earthen water containment structures up there. The input provided to you about one of our products, DB 100 (liquid Polymer), by Mr. Lodestro was very much appreciated. Our products perform as described and hearing from satisfied customers is most gratifying. This product is excellent and our product development team is working on a new form of DB 100 that will be significantly more effective. When that product is out we will be providing it as well. We also have a product named after yours truly, Tom Biller, TB 300 (True Blue 300). It is a highly concentrated blue aquatic dye that is livestock safe and fish friendly. We also have an aeration system (The Bubble Gun TM) that is very efficient, safe (no electrical lines in the water) and quiet. For individuals desiring to build a pond, we provide consultation services to most effectively locate and excavate your pond. We also have a dry polymer DB 200 named after the other pond doctor, (Doug Biller). This dry polymer is worked into the clay as you are lining a new pond or relining an existing pond and it greatly increases the water holding characteristics of your earthen water containment structure. Once again, we appreciate the kind words from satisfied customers. We would like the opportunity to make you a satisfied customer too. We can be reached at 423 715-0804 or 423 336-1253. Thanks, Doug and Tom Biller

-----Original Message-----
From: Pond Boss Forum [mailto:info@pondboss.com]
Sent: Tuesday, May 12, 2009 1:40 PM
To: Tom Biller
Subject: Thank you for registering at Pond Boss Forum!

Go figure...I just placed my second order for the DB-100 and find out "our product development team is working on a new form of DB 100 that will be significantly more effective". Guess I need more patience. Can't wait to see/hear how well it works. Hope the price is still right.

Ha ha funny cheezy! I called today as well to check on getting some more DB-100 and the price has went up since just a couple weeks ago. I think I should of waited until I got my pond sealed completely before I told the world about my results and caused a supply and demand price increase ... I'm really hyped about the new prodcut though. If it works even better than the DB-100 i'm ready to get on the waiting list as long as price is right. I just dont want the success of this product to drive the prices up to the ridiculous costs of something like "ESS-13" I would hate to know that they have a product that can be manufactured for a profit even at 200 dollars and charge thousands for it! Let's face it most people can't/won't spend thousands of dollars on a pond liner or expensive overpriced polymers but when someone throws a product out there for under 200 bucks that can seal off your pond it's definately going to be a success!

I hear ya belkins456. I hope the market takes off. Can you imagine a day where you would have a choice of maybe 3 or 4 different pond sealing products that 'work' and are reasonably priced.

cheezy1963 I was wondering on your discharge side of pump how far of a spray pattern you got? I was thinking If i could reduce trash pump down to a small enough spray head it may spray 50-75 feet? If that was the case I wouldn't have to keep relocating the pump around the pond which would be a pain. I could stand in middle and get most of the banks and then move to other side and finish up.

The woman I am married to will not let me call you today because it is Sunday. And the phone will not work in the morning where I am going but As soon as it does. LOOK OUT.

One can only imagine the terms of endearment she uses for you, Otto.

belkins456, I have a 3 inch discharge reduced to 1.5 inches. I would say it will spray out about 30-40ft. If I had a nozzle I bet it would go much further. Not sure what size pump you have or how much you could safely reduce it.

My pump is only a 2" inch but i'm still thinking I could get 60 feet or so out of it if it was reduced down to a nozzle type sprayer. Thanks for the info...you've been really helpful!

Otto- leave some product for us..ha ha I'm trying to get my pond completely sealed off before this new demand for the product drives the product to unaffordable prices! I'm betting this produt will mysteriously keep going up in price as time goes on. I'm tempted to buy a few 100 gallons for future use and resale down the road..lol

belkins456, has your water level increased any? Is it still sealed?

I'm still waiting to see if the DB-100 will hold a seal after the water level rises. Unfortunately, I haven't had any rain to raise my water level back up to see if it still holds. I'm still wondering after reading fixmypond's post if it will hold or not.

Yes my water level is back up and holding fairly well. It's up close to 6ft range right now and i'm just hoping it will hang around that area through the hot dry months so it will fill up this fall and winter. I'm going to check and see when their "new improved" product comes out today and get an order placed if it's not too away from production!

Sounds like you are seeing real good results belkins456. I've had a couple of days with 1/4 inch or less loss which is good. The toe of my dam is just about dried out. I will try and post some before and after pics this weekend. I also plan on applying 6 more gallons of the DB-100 this weekend to help clear the water up some more and it doesn't hurt that it should help stop any remaining seepage. Are you sure the price went up for the DB-100? My order cost the same as it did several weeks ago : )

Keep us in the loop on what you find out about the "new and improved" version of the DB-100.

Really? When did you order? Mine was $252.00 for 6 gallons shipped to my door yesterday. Is that what you paid?? Yea i'm having really good luck out of it! I honestly think this next application may do the trick for me. I'll probably keep a couple gallons around through the summer to keep water clear and any floating algage away. I'm going to try and get trash pump rigged up for spraying today cheezy1963 so if I hit any snags I may have a couple questions for you? Thanks.

The "new and improved" DB-100 should be out sometime next month they are telling me. If it's same price I'll spray another few gallons out just for shi*s and giggles.

I have had great success with this fine, soft, powdery-type substance. It is made from a mixture of elements that are found in natural materials such as limestone, clay, sand and/or shale. When I mix it with water---Shaazaam!
It's made up of Calcium, Silicon, Aluminum and Iron and is usually kinda gray. My advice: Keep it stored in a dry area. If it gets wet or damp the powder will turn into a 50lb hard lump!

(Sorry for the sarcasm---- I've been fighting a leaky pond for 8 years now!)

belkins456, I ordered on Friday and paid the same amount you did. Good luck with the trash pump....I'm sure it will work fine for you. Just remember, only have the valve open to the DB-100 when water is flowing.

What the heck is that stuff GeorgeS?

Redi-Mix Cement! ; )

hahaha....I was wondering if it was something like that : )

Still not had time to find out about this stuff but will try again soon.

Cheezy1963- Well I got my trash pump all rigged up and ready to go! Now I just need the product to spray. I did a test run on it this afternoon and man it worked GREAT! I took it down to pond, primed pump and started the spray. I then opened my valve and presto it began to draw water from my test bucket like a dream! On the discharge end I used regular 50ft blue 2" discharge hose connected to a 4 foot long 2"diameter PVC pipe coupled to a reducer of 3/4 inch! Talk about shooting a massive spray pattern out! I feel like i'm holding some kind of righteous water gun when I have the 4 ft PVC cannon in my hands ..ha ha It was literally spraying water 75 feet out with a ton of volume and force! Now i know how fire fighters must feel. I am a little concerned that it may be putting a bit of backpressure on my trash pump but it seemed to run fine and didn't get extremely hot or anything out of ordinary so i think it's ok? Spraying 6 gallons of DB-100 out is going to be a dream now..why didn't I do this the first time???

This next week I will be getting some of this stuff and giving it a try.

How about some pics of this rig in action.

Belkins, Let's talk. I need the exact setup that you've put together. Sounds like just the ticket for applying Gypsum, Aluminum Sulfate and Slime (leak stoppers). What type of pump did you buy and how much do you think you have invested? Are you using a siphon or pumping straight out of a container?

Glad to hear you got the pump working belkins456. After doing it the hard way the first time, you will sure appreciate the pump this go around : ) I don't think it will hurt the pump but I'm not an expert on that. You could always reduce the throttle a little if you're worried.

You will notice that the pump will draw the DB-100 out of the bucket allot slower than it did during your water test. The DB-100 is much thicker than water. I think it took about an hour for me to spray out 6 gallons of the DB-100. Make sure you got a full tank of gas and maybe some extra gas close by so you can keep it going. Remember to close the valve if the pump dies. It is a real pain if you get a pump full of DB-100. I always run my pump for 10 minutes or so after applying all the DB-100 to make sure it gets washed out. Good luck.

Jsec- I will try to get some pictures posted for you!

GeorgeS- I borrowed the pump so I have zero invested in that part of it. Overall I spent around 30 bucks to rig up the sprayer.It's really easy once you get a grasp of what you are trying to do. Look back at picture cheezy1963 posted and it will give you a good idea of how to tap the intake of pump. I did mine the same way he did except I tapped into plastic intake rather than metal so it was easier drilling. Then you just run a 3/8 hose with some type of in-line ball valve (so you can start/stop flow) back to your DB-100 and as the pump is pumping it will create a suction on that hose drawing your chemical into discharge water. I made the sprayer out of 2" PVC pipe and reduced it down to 3/4 to give it the spray nozzle effect. Works like a dream!

Cheezy1963- I dont think it will hurt the pump either but since it's not mine Im a little over protective. I have heard from Doug Biller as well that if you let pump stop while DB-100 is inside that it's really hard to prime back up. I will make it a point to NOT let that happen! If you let the DB-100 sit inside pump long enough it may seal it up tight and not let water leak back out of it ...he he I plan on running pump with valve closed for 10-15 minutes as a clean out. Thanks again for all your help!