Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Soil questions SoilFloc Polymer Sealant

Your welcome. This week I will be writing up some tips that Dave, FireIsHot, and I came up with during the application. Hopefully it will make it smoother when anyone applies it on their pond.

It looks like mine might have partially worked. I'm down about an inch or so during the past week. But, one wet spot behind the dam is now dry. That's on one side.

So, that means that we missed most of the leaky area. Gotta do some more figuring. I'm kinda interested in Fishing Pal saying that it took a couple of weeks. That gives me something to think about.

We only used about half of the product so I can do it again.

Dave/Josh,
Watching your video I see that you had one person in the boat working the position of the boat. You used a stationary line that spanned the pond. It looked like as the person wanted to move the boat that person would tug on the stationary rope to pull the boat down the line and then would have to hang on to the line to keep the boat at that position. Then I imagine the shore crew would move the line over about 6' and then the process would start again?

That is a twist on how we did it. We had 2 ropes, one on front/one on the back of the boat and the shore crew moved the boat both forward and backward in the current lane of product being applied and then also moved the boat over to the next lane as needed. Our way requires more rope as each rope has to be the full width of the pond. Your way requires one rope, but requires a person in the boat to maneuver the boat.

I'd be curious how your method worked out for you?

Good to hear a spot has dried out. IIRC you used only half of 1 unit, so you have more polymer on hand. Identifying origins of leaks is tricky, that's why Aquaben recommends treating ENTIRE ponds and not spot treatment. I prefer to start smaller and expand as necessary...significantly cheaper that way. Why blow thousands when a single unit might work? Have to at least try the cheapest route first, in my mind. Let me know how I can help, Dave. Here anytime.

CC, using one rope worked great if you weren't the one pulling on the rope. We had the rope so tight that it was a hard pull for that kid. Later we loosened it a little bit which didn't have any negative effects re boat control but sure made it easier to pull.

Dave, it sounds to me like the pond will do better now, in the drought years! 1" per week sounds good

Tracy

Here is some general tips we cam up with:

When pulling from the boat hook the lope thru a eyelet on the bow and aft of the boat or cable car method (pulley style).

All surfaces will get messy, so don't where designer jeans

Flag your area for reference in applying material and where you want to end up on each pass will be great assistance also. Tie rope(s) off to 4 wheelers etc.

Use a scale to weigh a solo cup of material and then put into scoop. Mark the area for future reference. That way we took the guessing game out of the equation. KISS method.

When wind is not a factor the scoop and shake method works pretty well, but be deliberate in spreading when wind is present-throw it at the water surface.

Have a great 3 buckets labeled (A,B, Bentonite)-sing a song while applying-keeps it all together.

Then have a guy or gal on shore yelling stroke when its time to pull the boat.

Dave if theres more chime in here.

It's hard to wash off your hands, off of tools, out of buckets, and out of clothes. If you leave residue anywhere, and it dries, it will make a mess again when it is re-wet. If it wasn't messy, it would not work so well. Not a complaint.

1" weekly - wow, hope that's good news for you. Congrats Dave, certainly sounds manageable, but hoping you can find and treat the source of the additional leak. I'm glad for the partial resolution, considering you used only 1/2 unit of polymer I'm relieved with the results. I hope you are, too. Let me know how I can help.

I have photo's of when the dam was built. It is no more than a stopped up gully(called a draw in Texas). So, I can guesstimate the area that isn't natural ground. What I wonder about is how much sand has washed in to cover that area. Can that be a factor? Don't know.

I'll give it another week or so and then assemble the teens to hit it again.

Wishing I hadn't sold my diving gear about 30 years ago.

All the stuff that got the slicked up was covered in dirt/sand to become a crust which we could later scrap off and make clean.

Would a power washer work??

I left my ropes and oars on shore, in a couple weeks it had all dried up and flaked off. No big deal. I don't know how someone would get the hydrated polymer on one's clothing or on tools, but again imagine it would dry up and flake off like it did on my oars and ropes. Remember, the polymer is designed to be applied to the pond, not the applicator.

If applying dye has any similarities, I don't know if I could lay outside long enough for it to dry up and flake off.....

For some reason a mental image of a speedo and Bob-O popped into my head. Shutter, my day is ruined!

Sure you could Scott. Just make a road trip down here in August to do it. I bet you dry up PDQ.

Maybe not if you haven't found that voodoo doll yet!

Polymer goes in dry form, unless someone literally jumps into the pond, I don't see how it could possibly get on one's clothes or tools...unless they tip the boat? I guess anything is possible, but figured I'd have made the mistake already if there was one to make. Historically that's how it tends to go.

I guess I am sloppy. Wore rubber gloves and rubber boots, but got it on my boots and gloves, and from there on my sleeves. When you get a little on the bank at the waterline, you tend to slide into the pond. It came out in the wash, but stopped up the sewer in the process. NOT!

Just saying...

Thanks for setting the bar guys! Finally it's not me.

In my pond I have a leak from the pond to the creek blue line in photo. I believe the leak was caused by some mulberry tree roots that were growing along the creek bank. Mull berrys have been taken care of. Would the Soilfloc work in this case.

How many units does it take to treat a 1 acre pond? I thought about treating mine when the pond is half full thus only needing 1/2 the material. If the water level doesn't stabilize till the pond is around 1/4 full then why treat the entire pond? I've read this is an all or nothing treatment for best results but that doesn't make sense to apply over the whole basin if the leak is in the bottom half.

Hi Yak

If trees have been removed, yes Soilfloc can be applied to seal the fissures created by the roots. I'll send a PM.

Hi Archer

Depending on the rate of leak, it varies from 11-13 units. I'll send a PM and we can connect and discuss.