I know every project is unique, but in your opinion, what are the chances that this product could replace the necessity of using a liner for a small pond? I live in a valley and get tons of water runoff in my backyard, to the point where it’s always wet almost anytime of the year. I’ve dug a small hole (maybe 3’ x 3’ and 18” deep) and it’s held water for the most part for three weeks now. My plan for it is simply as a small bait pond, maybe something in the area of 10‘ x 10‘, and 3 to 4 feet deep. I want to keep it as natural as possible, and don’t want to invest in a liner, but I will if I have to. Any thoughts on this? Would bentonite clay or a liner be a better option? Thank you.

I conversed with TJ on my leak issues. My 1/2 acre pond in central Alabama was dug last year for the second time. 1st time we hit rock or sandstone on one end and it would never hold water or fill for that matter. So I repositioned the pond and dug it more on the clay side. Some areas were sandy below the clay and eventually hit rock. We spread the clay capping the bottom and sides with a dozer. The pond is between 2 hills with a 20ft damn on the low side. The dam was build with the best clay I had and we dug it down about 5ft below the bottom of the pond before we built it up layer by layer of packed clay. The 2 hills was where all the clay was but the bottom of the valley is where most of the rock was located. We packed about 2ft of clay on the bottom but the way the bottom of the pond is formed, it all slopes to the dam. I waited of rain water to fill the pond which was a slow processes over 6 months. Rain was far between at 1st and the pond would eventually dry before the next rain. This caused all the watershed water to run down the valley against my dam. This fast running of water dug trenches in the bottom of my pond and because it wouldn't fill It kept washing out these trenches time and time again until my clay liner was gone. Eventually we started getting more rain with lots of rain fall. The pond filled to my over flow siphon system. But because of the washouts in my clay liner, I was losing water fast.
This is when I gave TJ a call. I told him what was going on. He asked many questions to make sure that there was no other problems that also needed to be addressed. He suggested I get a baseline of my water leakage and put a pipe with 1/2in increments on it to measure daily water lost. After a week I reported back to him that I was loosing 2in per day.
We were confident that it wasn't leaking through the dam and my biggest issue was down the center of the pond floor were the natural valley had washed out my clay liner. We estimated that area to be a 1/4 acre in size and he suggested I put out 6 units of soilfloc on it.
I waited until a good rain came and gave me almost full pool and also waited for an evening with no wind. I got 2 neighbors over to hold a rope across my pond. I had 3ft markers on each bank for them to move to after each pass as my son pulled the boat along the rope as I through out a scoop of each part of the soilfloc. After a few passes we decided it was easier to mix the 2 parts in a 5 gallon bucket. It seemed to have a better mixing affect as it hit the water and was a lot easier on me and the guys on the bank. You just have to make sure everything is staying dry because any moisture will cause it to gel once it's mixed. We continued to cover the area marker by marker but I found throwing the mix high and far made a more even coat once it hit the water. If I tried to throw it in my 3ft area, some would hit the water in a clump and it wouldn't mix well on the water. These white clumps crystalized and lasted for days on the water before it sunk. Throwing it high and far hit the water like a fine dust and made a good gel. So we decided to forget the 3ft grid pattern. I'd sling a scoop out as far as I could and work our way from bank to bank. You could see the thick gel floating on the water so you had a visual marker to throw to each pass. I covered the 1/4 acre area thinking it was very thick and it was. I couldn't have put any more on it because when I would throw more on top of the gel, it wouldn't get wet and stay white powder on top. It seemed like there was 6in of more of gel on the water and I covered my target area and only went through 3 of the 6 units. I didn't want to drag the boat through the gelled area to add more soilfloc because I was afraid of cutting gaps in the gel and not getting a good solid blanket on the bottom. So we called it a night.
The next morning It had all sank except the few white clumps where I put it too thick, but in a few days they sank. I was debating what I should do with the other 3 units. Should I cover the same area again super thick, or put a thinner layer over the whole 1/2 acre. It was windy for a few days so I had time to think about it and watch my water level. It seemed to work almost over night. With in a few days my pond went from loosing 2in a day to 1/2 an inch a day with only 1/2 the suggested application.
Now I was really confused. Did I seal the target area and have a small leak else where, or is my leak still in the target area. I decided I was gonna coat the whole pond with the remaining 3 units. I did it alone, paddling the boat starting at one end of the pond and working my way back, throwing it high and far. I mixed all my remaining units in 5 gallon buckets on the bank and took 5 at a time with me. It covered the pond well. It was thicker than I thought. Being that the whole pond was full of it, it seemed to level itself out uniformly as it pushed off the banks. In a few hours it sank.
Now my pond is losing water at a 1/4in or less daily. This stuff is pretty amazing. Thanks to TJ for all his help.

Hey Husker!

Feel free to reach out anytime as I’ve worked on hundreds of polymer projects and am happy to help in any way I can. I can also get my Pond Boss family a discount on the polymer.

Tj@hudlandmgmt.com