Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Soil questions SoilFloc Polymer Sealant

Yeah, I'm also married to a narrow minded woman.

Is this product intended to be used in a full pond, dry pond or both? If a dry pond is alright then does it need to be filled immediately following an application or can it be applied and wait for mother nature to fill?

I have 1 acre pond that leaks down to about 1/4 to 1/2 full ever since the previous owner had it dug out. Went too deep hitting rock and gravel is my theory. Only owned the place for a year and didn't know the pond leaked until this summer when it started going down about 1 inch per day. Also, what is the estimated cost to cover a pond this size?

Yes I know the feeling - mine said " your not floating no ugly pallets in there for the minnows to breed- they will need to rent a room or something - I don't want to look at that trash."

Hi Archer, welcome to the forum! I sent you a PM - feel free to reach out anytime - happy to try and help however I can.

TJ

You can read the above to get more of the story on what TJ and I have done but here is my latest observation....

After 2 weeks to the hour my pond has dropped 2.75". Prior to SoilFloc treatment my pond would've dropped 6.5" MINIMUM. So my water loss has been cut down by more than .25" per day. In fact I think it's been cut by well over that as my geothermal is not dumping water into my pond at near the rate it was 6 wks ago when I took measurements prior to treatment. Unfortunately my geothermal water input isn't a variable I can get a good read of without putting in quite a bit of effort. But it has been running at least 6 hrs a day less than 6 wks ago.

Again I spot treated along the dam of my .6 Acre pond where I assumed the majority of my seepage was occurring. I only used one unit! I'm shocked by the results so far. Much better than expected. I still plan to add at least 2 more units in hopes of sealing it up even tighter and have my geothermal water become overflow into my larger pond below.

Got one unit from TJ (few weeks ago) and have been trying to get it applied to a small pond we have that is used for kids to fish in but when the weather was good I didn't have the time and the pond was low. Now that I have the time and the water level is back up (by pumping)the wind has picked up with 23 mph gusts. Looks like next week the wind will lay some and hopefully I will get it applied. Got a good price and TJ got me a good shipping price also.

Wow, what a turnaround! I'd say I love being a part of a happy ending, but that would probably strike the more infantile forum members as exceedingly funny, so I won't.

Dang Jim, we need some calm days your way. Keep in touch - let me know how the application goes. Here to help always...it was really cool meeting and getting to know you.

TJ

TJ

Got'er done. Was able to apply the product this evening. The wind stopped and got it applied without a mess. I used the cup method of spreading the material rather than a spreader. Very little got in the boat. Probably could of cut the time in half using the spreader though. Could see it would be messier using the spreader. Will kepp you updated on the results.

I don't have any measurements to provide as my water intake is variable due to my geothermal and changing weather this time of year, but by eyeball studies and past experience it seems my pond is holding water better each week since applying the polymer. Just my very untestable opinion.

Last winter my pond was losing between a quarter and a half inch per day. This winter my water actually came up a bit (I have had geothermal running in both winters). The only treatment I used was one unit of SoilFloc along my dam. Prior to treatment I had constantly ran 5-10 gpm into my pond PLUS the geothermal water. Now I haven't added any water other than the geothermal since treating the pond in August. Seems to have worked a miracle for me.

This spring a hope to add a bit more SoilFloc in a few other areas I think I may be losing water so that my geothermal actually causes more overflow.

Great news, Corey! Keep in touch, let me know how I can help.

It appears that Soilfloc treatment has helped my pond some also. The problem is I have only been able to do a few small areas due to only a couple hours at a time of windless conditions. Is is almost constantly windy here in the winter and early spring.

I think I am going to create something to apply the polymer below the surface, and directly where it's wanted, so wind/rain is not an issue...Now, if I can only get TJ to send me some to play with....

Why couldn't you set up a trash pump with the inlet in the pond just below the surface and the outlet where the problem spot is. Then while the pump is running pour small amounts of part a and b together. The pump will mix them up and spit out a cloudy whitish water out of the outlet. I did this with plain polyacrylamide (PAM) before and it mixed it up just fine but did nothing for the leak. I only used very little though no where near the 100 pounds one unit would be. I believe soilfloc has some sort of polyacrylamide (PAM) in it. It is used for all sorts of things and there are many different types. It is used in trench irrigation to stop erosion, it is used in diapers because it absorbs a lot more water than the weight of itself. Once it touches water it is a slimy mess. Just a thought.

Rainman, Cool idea! I'm not sure if that would work though?

My understanding is that you need Part A of the mixture to grab suspended particles and clay and start pulling that together as it sinks to bind up all the surrounding loose soil. Then part B needs to glob it together and force it down the leaking spots. I think if you don't have enough suspended or nearby dirt to pull together that they advise adding bentonite clay to make sure you have enough.

I guess if your applicator could apply just under the surface and still have it go in a spread out distribution pattern while dry it might work....

I know for me, when watching how I applied it, that having it fan out in a powder 'mist' and lay in a very thin even layer over a wide swath of water was much more helpful. The floating swath would merge into the next floating swath before slowly sinking and this seemed to give me a better blanket of coverage.

For me, at least, if I threw a handful (from a measuring cup) and it landed in a C shaped pile in the water, it wouldn't fan out evenly by the time it hit the bottom.

How to reproduce that wide even layer before it starts sinking, AND to administer that even layer while under the water would be the design challenge.


Just knowing that soil floc works though has opened up a lot of new avenues of thought for me. I really would like a small forage pond and I really didn't know where or how to build one on my narrow lot. Now I know that all I need to do is dig a hole anywhere and seal it with soilfloc. Pretty powerful tool for anyone who wanted to dig forage ponds but didn't want to compact clay or buy a liner.

I think Soilfloc would ruin a pump, even a trash pump. I had some in a small plastic bucket, and used all of it I could see, dumping the dry residue. I later tried to use the bucket for water to clean floors. The residue clinging to the sides of the bucket, though hardly visible to the eye, clumped up and stuck to the bucket, made the cleaning rag slimy, and I threw the bucket away, as the slime was so difficult to remove.
I think my pond is now too clear to use Soilfloc (5 foot visibility). I am waiting for rain to muddy it up, and no wind.

Sorry Rex, I'm out and never had an opened bag to send you any. Had someone here in deep trouble and needed my help so I parted with my stash! If I order again I will be sure to keep some in a ziplock for you. I think Jeff [Canyon] has some left over product he was looking to dump - might be a good resource for you. No clue if he still has it or not.

John, I was getting ready to order a dose of this from TJ. I had not heard that you need suspended clay or sediment in the water in order for it to work. I had heard about throwing the two components, and then throwing bentonite on top of that, but I thought it might just be to help get it to the bottom of the pond quickly.
I'm going to be throwing into 12-13' of water. Hoping it seals at the bottom. My water has at least two feet visibility.
I've dropped about 14" in two months. I'd like to reduce that if I could.

Jeff

TJ,
In your experience, will the product not work as well in water that already is very clear? My water happened to have stirred up clay in it due to unwanted goldfish rooting in the mud and wanted crayfish also digging around for food. That set up a good gathering of suspended silt as the product sank.

I'm sure you applied this to ponds that were very clear already?

If Setterguy has too clear of water could he perhaps ask his buddy to drop his bass boat in there and roar around the pond a few times to get the bottom stirred up and then apply when the silt is suspended? Or use a trashpump and hose to power-hose the bottom in the shallows on a day with a breeze and see if the breeze moves the suspended silt through the water table before applying product?

Even a jet ski making a few laps around a small pond should stir the bottom up a bit? I've seen youtube videos of people holding the front end of a jet ski while standing in a small above ground intex pool and using it to drain the pool in a hurry (or use it as a giant water cannon to drench the neighbors...)

Good question: Turbidity of water does not have an impact on product's efficacy - I've used it personally in both scenarios and worked in both instances. The linear polymer does link with suspended clay particles and flocs the water resulting in improved clarity, sometimes vastly so, but it's not a prerequisite for application.

TJ - Let's say I get the tractor out and dig a mini pond, maybe 30' or so, kinda square, tapered kinda like a paint roller tray in sand. It's very coarse sand which holds it's shape and you can even sculpt this. Runoff has minimal effects as channeling and ruts go, but it does happen. Ground water in this area, well, you won't hit any for a ways. Probably only go 4-6 feet deep here.

Do you think this may work with the product?

Phil, too many applications ta the eyeballs? What does that ? have ta do with Polymer sealant if yer not gonna hit ground waster?

Don't know what waster is? Can you clarify?

From what was said, GW may not work because the flow direction (pressure) is under flowing in.

What is it with topical flow, maybe well water to keep the pressure on one side.

Something has to go with pressure, but if you won't see the pressure from under...

Yep, my math punishments...

My spelling prob, thanks to Catholic schools.