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Update.. Trying to compare year to year data on water loss. I was losing about .44" per day last summer. In the last 22 days I've been losing water at a .32" per day rate. Very little rain over the last three weeks. Mostly hot and dry. (1.5" rain in last 22 days.)
Jeff


9 yr old pond, 1 ac, 15' deep.
RES, YP, GS, FHM (no longer), HBG (going away), SMB, and HSB (only one seen in 5 yrs) Restocked HSB (2020) Have seen one of these.
I think that's about all I should put in my little pond.
Otter attack in 2023
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SetterGuy,
That much difference in losses IMO could be due to normal "settling in" of a new pond. It may or may not be due to Soilfloc. My guess is it will gradually continue to get marginally better over time as mine has. Evaporation here for the past several weeks has been about 1/4 inch per day on sunny days. When nights are cool, and have lower dew points, the ponds with their warm waters will continue to lose moisture to the air during those nights, as long as the water surface temp is above the dew point, so I have seen some small evaporation losses at night.

BTW, we have had 0.9 inches of rainfall here since July 26 (40 days).

My pond is now down 24.25 inches from full (spillway) pool. It will take a lot of rain and pumping to get it back up the 20 or so inches to "normal" pool. The creek is down to a few deeper potholes.

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This summer has been the wettest I have seen in many years here at my place in E Texas. My pond is down about a foot right now but many season past I ran the water well 24/7 and I would be down 2.5 foot. Last two years it flooded around here in the spring. But last year after the flooding we went from too much rain to June 1st and then had no rain till Oct. that's 120 days with out a drop of rain in the hottest part of the year. This year my soybean wildlife food plots are booming, I've never seen many soybeans. And I used some of Tj's product on my new settling pond because the bank were to steep to pac it down and so it leaked the top 8" and would lose that amount in just a day, now it will hold that amount for a week or so. It did not stop the leak 100% but it still did one heck of a job and I am more than happy with the results. Now if it could stop all the sand and dirt from entering this sediment pond things might be better. But the pond is doing what it is supposed to do, stopping all that from going into the big pond and reducing it depth and size. Oh well looks like I might have to dig it all out someday and start new. But for now the sediment pond is growing a lot of FHM's. smile

Tracy

Last edited by TGW1; 09/05/16 06:50 AM.

Do not judge me by the politicians in my City, State or Federal Government.


Tracy
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John F,
I'm not sure, but I think the soilfloc is making a difference. My pond it a few years old, and has been up to full a few times. Either way, it's leaking slower than it was. Maybe someday I'll only have to worry about evaporation. Having looked at it for months, when it was 3 to 4 feet down, it looks a lot better.


9 yr old pond, 1 ac, 15' deep.
RES, YP, GS, FHM (no longer), HBG (going away), SMB, and HSB (only one seen in 5 yrs) Restocked HSB (2020) Have seen one of these.
I think that's about all I should put in my little pond.
Otter attack in 2023
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Setter, I know what you mean...I tell people my pond is "going dry" and they think I'm crazy. But when you stare at that thing EVERYDAY, and know what you are seeing, its a little aggravating. I'm at about .5" a day...little less when cool. I'm not happy there...would love to slow it down...but like John says...maybe it will slowly seal a little more over time. Its not but a couple years since we worked it and its not gone dry since then. It did the couple years before we worked it. Its young...but isn't it great to see it full!


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Originally Posted By: peachgrower
Setter, I know what you mean...I tell people my pond is "going dry" and they think I'm crazy. Its young...but isn't it great to see it full!

Absolutely!! Our pond is 15' deep, so even when it's down 4' I think my fish are still safe, but,, when it's down 4', it bothers the heck out of me. When we went by Saturday, and it was only down 19", (only) I was so relieved. Ha!
I didn't help myself building it in one of the driest counties in Missouri.


9 yr old pond, 1 ac, 15' deep.
RES, YP, GS, FHM (no longer), HBG (going away), SMB, and HSB (only one seen in 5 yrs) Restocked HSB (2020) Have seen one of these.
I think that's about all I should put in my little pond.
Otter attack in 2023
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L
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I know the feeling. We have had an especially hot and dry summer also. Worst drought in 50+ years, and it is not over. It is STILL hot, and that is creepy for us as about this time of year we normally make the transition from shorts to sweat shirts and pants.
I loose about 0.3" per day now when the pond is full, but amazingly I loose maybe 0.1" per day now that I am down about 2.5'. Now I know my leak is either up high on the back side of the dam, or the front. Since there is only one remaining wet spot on the back side, I think I know now... and it still bubbles with natural gas.

I am now at peace with my leak, if a 50+ year drought only drops me 2.5'

We are right in the base of the red "U" on the top squiggle in Western NY:
http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/Home/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?NY

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I would be at peace with that also!


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Originally Posted By: peachgrower
I would be at peace with that also!


I'm going to be. (At peace with it.)
.3" per day will work for me. I'm certainly not going to drain it, and rework clay into the base of the pond etc.. (Enough invested already.)
If it slows down a bit more as time passes, great, but if it's .3" a day forever, I'll be fine with that..


9 yr old pond, 1 ac, 15' deep.
RES, YP, GS, FHM (no longer), HBG (going away), SMB, and HSB (only one seen in 5 yrs) Restocked HSB (2020) Have seen one of these.
I think that's about all I should put in my little pond.
Otter attack in 2023
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J
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J
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My losses have dropped to under 0.4 inches per day. The drought index site says we need 7.34 inches of precipitation to end the current drought. It doesn't look like that's going to happen.

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Update. Haven't been by the pond for nine days. Water level had dropped 2" exactly. Also had .5" in the rain gauge during that time. (Had a small rain shower on Friday 9/16)
So, 2.5" loss in nine days is .278" per day. My guess that's not too far off from evaporation rate. Still looking good, in my opinion. 40 miles south, they are getting lots of rain. We still ended up with good corn and bean harvests up here, so once our 5 month draught ended in June, my pond has been holding its own fairly well. Still down 19.75" from full, so some October/November storms will be welcome.


9 yr old pond, 1 ac, 15' deep.
RES, YP, GS, FHM (no longer), HBG (going away), SMB, and HSB (only one seen in 5 yrs) Restocked HSB (2020) Have seen one of these.
I think that's about all I should put in my little pond.
Otter attack in 2023
Joined: Jul 2016
Posts: 425
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John...did you get any rain this past week?

Setterguy, thats great to hear! I may be looking into soilfloc as that would really be my best option. I'm still hanging around .5" a day...which isn't terrible...but still would love to get to where you are! Congrats again!


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Originally Posted By: peachgrower
John...did you get any rain this past week?

Setterguy, thats great to hear! I may be looking into soilfloc as that would really be my best option. I'm still hanging around .5" a day...which isn't terrible...but still would love to get to where you are! Congrats again!


Got about 1.5 inches that raised the pond 2 inches. Not enough to make the creek run at all, so no pumping possible. Hoping for more rain, but none in forecasts. Losses are down to about 1/4 inch per day.

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Well, it looks like I'm back to losing over .3" per day. I was last here at the farm on 9/19, then checked yesterday, 9/30. Eleven day period I lost 3.5". That's a per day average of .318".
The leak wasn't that much faster before the treatment. Possibly because I'm down 23.25" from full, there is less water per inch, perhaps that's why the rate appears to be accelerating.

Last edited by SetterGuy; 10/01/16 07:54 AM.

9 yr old pond, 1 ac, 15' deep.
RES, YP, GS, FHM (no longer), HBG (going away), SMB, and HSB (only one seen in 5 yrs) Restocked HSB (2020) Have seen one of these.
I think that's about all I should put in my little pond.
Otter attack in 2023
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J
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J
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Mine is down 29 inches from full pool, and leakage has virtually stopped. I am losing about 1/4 inch per 24 hours with these clear bluebird days and cool nights we are having. The dew point at night gets way below the surface temp, so pond evaporates at night too. Fog on the water proves it. My pond banks have solidified and shrank with the water down, so I am hoping my leakage will be less when the water comes back up. At least it doesn't appear to have significant leaks in the basin. If it still has any leaks, they are mostly in the upper two feet of water at full pool.

SetterGuy, if you have been having weather similar to mine, you are seeing a lot of evaporation. When the water temp is still high in the early fall, and dew points get low during a high pressure system, evaporation will increase.

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John,
Hopefully that's it. I was at a loss, as to why it would start losing water at a higher rate.


9 yr old pond, 1 ac, 15' deep.
RES, YP, GS, FHM (no longer), HBG (going away), SMB, and HSB (only one seen in 5 yrs) Restocked HSB (2020) Have seen one of these.
I think that's about all I should put in my little pond.
Otter attack in 2023
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Hey guys, I think its a bit of both. We haven't gotten any rain in a few weeks. Had a chance then it left also. I have seen mine ramp up just a bit, but like setter said, I have less water per inch surface area so it would stand to reason the vertical drop might be faster. Now I didn't think about what John stated. Thats a good point, we have had fog most every morning the last couple of weeks, so I bet my evap is going at night also like you said. I'm just over .5" a day. Was hovering right on .5" a day when we were in the high 90's. Maybe my seepage is around 1/4" but since we are seeing the evap at night, maybe it has increased a bit over 1/4" now? Good thoughts John!


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When you see fog over the water, and not over land, that is a sign the pond is losing water to the air due to evaporation. If fog is everywhere, there is little to no evaporation since the air over both pond and land is saturated.

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TJ has been encourageing me to share my story so here goes.
We capped my pond the day before Thanksgiving 2015. It is not very large - about 1/2 acre and 15 feet at its deepest point. By Christmas it was full pond and beautiful. We stocked with some trout and had a great time catching them early Spring. On April 9th I bought BG, RES, LMB, and FHM to stock. When stocking I noticed the pond was a couple of inches low. That was the beginning of a long spring and summer of watching the pond lose about 6 feet of water. I estimate I was losing between .5 to an inch a day. We finally determined that the leak was in the basin of the pond probably because it had not been packed well.
In July I tried spreading Bentonite over the pond. The depth was still about 9 feet but the loss of water continued. I had no idea where the water was going - no wet spots, way too much loss for only evaporation. I was sick about my new project.
I begain to read about SoilFloc on this sight and wondered if it would work for me.
I contacted TJ and we talked a few times about my situation. He was a great help and walked me though some testing procedures to determine what might be happening and exactly how much I was losing per day.
In August, I finally ordered 3 units of SoilFloc and made my application plans.
The first evening we tried to apply, it got dark on us and we had to quit. The second evening we atempted an application, the wind got up and we had to stop.
Finally, early in Saturday morning everything was perfect. We applied the product just as TJ has suggested and as I had read about in this thread.
After about a week, I noticed that my water loss had slowed considerably. Since we were in the midst of a severe drought I wasn't seeing the water level increase but my water loss all but stopped. My pond is spring fed so I guess what we coming in offset the evaporation amount on those hot dry days.
This past week it began to rain. We have had over 8 inches in the last 5 days. As of today, I am at full pond and watching closely as to any change or loss.
I am guardedly optimistic at this point and excited that, if we havent stopped the leak, at least it seems we have slowed it down considerably.
I'll keep you posted over the next few weeks as we watch the pond closely.
Thanks for all of your help and especially thanks to TJ for all of his help.

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Welcome to the forum and your first post, John! All feedback is valuable as we're still learning as a group about polymer treatments. Glad to hear things are holding up. Thanks for sharing your experience, and keep us apprised of any changes.


Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~ Henry David Thoreau

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No rain for last 18 days. Pond has dropped another 4.5". That's .25" per day. I'm still thinking this is pretty close to the evaporation rate. Sure would be nice to get some rain.. But Ralls county in Missouri is somehow always in a draught. I'm amazed I ever got this pond full. Ha


9 yr old pond, 1 ac, 15' deep.
RES, YP, GS, FHM (no longer), HBG (going away), SMB, and HSB (only one seen in 5 yrs) Restocked HSB (2020) Have seen one of these.
I think that's about all I should put in my little pond.
Otter attack in 2023
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Question
Has anyone tried using a hand held concrete vibrater ?
I was thinking it may work to realign the clay platelets and force a seal
I was thinking of throughing on a pair of waders or from a row boat (depending on the water level) inserting the vibrating head into the bottom and working in in a grid fashion

My newest low cost option
It may even work well with soil floc

Any thoughts ?

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Wow, what a thread of info!

I have yet to start really measuring water loss in my pond. I know in the spring is was fullish but no idea how deep but it does seem to lose water much more quickly than from evap. It looks like SoilFloc may be a good option but I have some questions I didn't see addressed, though I can make some assumptions...

SoilFloc apparently doesn't harm fish, as least as long as it's not thrown right on them, how does it treat people? My pond, while likely to have wildlife in it, will be primarily a swimming hole. Will this cause any problems when my kids accidentally drink the water?

I see everyone talking about how slippery it is. My plan is to likely have like pea-gravel beach where we walk into the pond (and a diving rock). Is there a method to apply the SoilFloc in this situation where it doesn't turn into a slip-n-slide? Could I apply at full pool, then add the gravel beach a bit later? Could that go for the whole pond? I'm looking for crystal clear water at full depth, if possible, and I'm reading that plant life and a decent circulation, along with gravel for microbes and junk to stick to, is the best way to achieve that. Could I SoilFloc the whole deal and put gravel in over the top of that that could be walked on or altered after the SoilFloc takes hold?

Does SoilFloc seem like a good option if you have very little previous knowledge of ponds in general and it seems as though my pond was just dug as a hole to fill up with water? I don't know that there was any legit prep of the hole...

Thanks everyone for the stories above, learning lots!

Edited to ask more questions!

Last edited by aighead; 12/16/16 02:28 PM.

Snort Coffee is a podcast about goofy stuff. Hope to add ponding to my list of hobbies.
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Soilfloc is as slick as ice when wet on the bank. It sticks to everything, and is slimy and hard to wash off. It should be applied before any gravel, and allowed to settle before putting the gravel on top. I got it to settle better by throwing a handful of fine granular bentonite on top of it after each throw of part A, then part B of Soilfloc. I would advise waiting at least two days before swimming after it is applied. The best analogy I can make is it's like getting water resistant white glue on you if you get in the water too soon, or get it on you while applying. Wear long rubber gloves. It will gum up the gills of fish if applied heavily and directly on them.

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Thanks John! The adding gravel after is actually what I was hoping to hear. If I end up using SoilFloc it sounds like I'll go pick up a few disposable coveralls.


Snort Coffee is a podcast about goofy stuff. Hope to add ponding to my list of hobbies.
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