Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Building a dam anti seep collars- one or two?

i had collar made for my pipe at pond dam piping place in macon ga. he only recommended one collar for the pipe. I am leaning toward putting 2 on it. What yall think about making one out of OSB (plywood)? I figure i can caulk around the hole in wood and it should be fine. It probably will never rot.

I would use two.

what about the thought of using wood?

I used one on my first pond and none on my second pond. Both hold water like a bath tub. In my opinion (and I have also seen experts agree), packing the clay back around the pipe is what is most important. Anti-seep collars can't hurt. I am not sure about homemade ones though.

If making a homemade seep collar I'd go with quickcrete over plywood - just my thinking.

Instead of plywood, what about fiberboard? You know, the alternative to concrete board backing used for tiling. It will NEVER rot.

OSB will rot out in three years in the ground. Termites will eat it faster then a portly woman going through a box of chocolates. Fiberboard will not rot but how would you secure it to the pipe? The best way may be to get it welded with a like piece of metal. If you are bent on using wood, use salt treated plywood. Good luck!

What I used was rubber liner that is used to line the bottom of a tile shower before concrete is poured for the shower base. It comes I think in 4' wide roll that can be bought in any length (cut to length), which I got two 4x4' pieces for my two anti-seep collars. This stuff can be bought at any professional plumbing supply house. They will also have the large hose clamps needed.

Get a hose clamp big enough to go around your pipe including the thickness of the rubber liner material.

Cut a hole in the center of the rubber piece that is half the diameter of the pipe. For 8" pipe cut 4" hole, etc. If it is cold you may need to heat the area around this hole with a hair dryer or small torch. It was warm when we did ours and a little heat sure helped us slide the rubber over the pipe.

The directions that we were provided by NRCS showed a 1x2" wood frame built and stapled to the liner material to keep its shape during installation. We did not do this. We just held the rubber up as we put dirt on each side while tamping it in. I felt like we could get the collar spread out adequately without the frame and I did not like the idea of the wood being in there rotting out.

When the liner material is slid over the pipe it will easily be clamped in place by the hose clamp and form a water tight seal.

That is the way we did anti-seep collars.

I think a person could use any type of rubber or plastic material that could be stretched over the pipe. A used inner tube from a large farm tractor tire, heavy shower curtain, etc. It has to be strong enough and stretchy enough to handle the ground drying and cracking and the stress of installation, but once in place with dirt firmly around it, about any material that will not rot out and that can be sealed around the pipe would work, I would think. The big hose clamp clamped the shower liner material really well for us.

Not sure rotting would be an issue if the soil has compacted by that time. Or not?

im sure the professionally made collar will be enough, i just want a little extra protection. i may be wrong, but i dont think osb will rot with all the glue in it. we had an osb plant here in town until the economy took a dump and the plant closed. i talked with an old employee from there and he said osb should last 100 years buried. i guess its kinda like most other wood not rotting without o2

Scott, I think you are probably thinking about Advantech which is not OSB. This would last for many years. OSB is not worth a plug nickel if it get wet or buried in the ground. People here do not use collars but the dirt will settle to seal pretty easy. However, you can't be to careful.

OSB will rot pretty quickly. I agree with Kenc, and I think 3 years is optomistic.

I like the rubber membrane idea, and I think that would work the best and be the most cost effective. To hold it in shape until you can get the dirt packed, make a perimeter frame out of 1x2's.

The trouble with the rubber membrane is attaching it to the pipe. If I was going to do it, I would use a 3 ft.x 5 ft. piece of Durock. This way you could attach it to the pipe with Portland cement. This setup should long forever and cost less then twenty dollars. Good luck!

kenc, snrub used hose clamps. I'd do the same but also use some type of sealer/glue to stick them together just in case the hose clamp let go years down the road. I know they make stainless hose clamps, but you gotta be careful and make sure the screw is stainless too.

Stainless is not rust proof but is rust resistant which doesn't mean much when they come from China. Portland cement is like a bad marriage in that they both last nearly forever.

A truck mud flap could also work. Cut hole smaller than the pipe (similar to method of a "Uniseal") and stretch the whole thing over the pipe. Packing hydraulic cement around the 'seal' would help improve the seal between rubber and pipe.

my current/old pond has a piece of lexan/plexiglss as a collar. we cut a hole in it and caulked around it with silicone. i actually have 2 pipes running side by side in the same collar. knock on wood, pond stays full!

pretty neat collars in the link. reckon how you cut the hole in the rubber to make it fit?

My pond builder made a plywood form around the drain pipe and filled it with concrete. Doesn't matter if the plywood rots out.

I have multiple PVC pipes I done over 20 years ago that have cement forms poured around them. No leaks.

RobA, When the plywood rots away it will leave a perfect channel for the water to travel around the collar.

Well I just learned the hard way about rushing into things! I finished my pond construction late summer. Before I could create a proper spill way or culvert the water began rising! I quickly put a good size culvert and tightly packed it into the clay damn. Every thing was going great until we had a mid winter thaw with an abundance of rain.

I now have a dump truck load of fill down the hill and my pond is currently draining....fast. Everything around it is solid ice there's nothing I can do but sit back and watch it all wash away.

For anyone thinking about installing antiseep collars....do it. Don't be dumb like I was and think...I can finish this in the spring!

Jay, Having a dam failure would sure suck, sorry to hear about your problems. From your writing I take it you constructed the dam yourself. It is unlikely that an anti-seep collar would have made any difference in your dams failure. Before you rebuild the dam you might want to read the first few pages in chapter 45 in part 628 of the National Engineering handbook. You should be able to find it on the web. Good luck

Bearbait1, it actually wasn't as bad as I thought.... Cross my fingers because it could get much worse. It looks like all the riff Raff, roots and gravel that were burried under the damn stopped the erosion so I only lost about as foot of water.

I looked up that information u listed and read it. Great information. In the spring I plan to complete a proper culvert installation with the filter diaphram. I just hope the damn holds up until then.

Hate this bloody Canadian weather!

J