thinking a little about zkhent and bills posts (i'll call it "new pond wetting"), it really would all depend on the site geology. you could estimate the wetting based on the properties of endmember soils (sand, silt clay) and then consider your own soils (for ex. sandy silt loams or silt with clay loams....or any combination thereof)......you'd have to know yer site.
i've heard various things like it takes a year for a new pond to "settle in", but bill brought up good points on the other page......if its built right, it shouldnt do that at all.
in my case right after renovation (Nov 05) and first filling (Jan 06) i didnt notice a thing until about May 06. it was dropping slightly faster than the evaporation rate, but by late summer, it was all evaporation.....there might have been some degree of "new pond wetting" but in a properly built pond it's really difficult to quantify if its not what you'd call a leak or seep, and as robinson mentioned, why count on it sealing itself?, seal it to begin with, and if thats not possible, at least cross yer fingers with your eyes open.
what happened to DonB?
