In this thread Central IL Pond I share my pond building adventure and my concern over water loss. I have found a spot where I have seepage. The best I can measure it is losing 1/2 inch in a weeks time.

It's a fact, so now I have to figure out how to deal with it. With my limited knowledge I have a few options; 1 ) deal with it and hope mother nature offsets it. 2) drain the pond, hire someone to re dig/find the leak and put down benoite. 3) drill a well and supplement the loss and manage the water level based on mother nature. 4) Anything else I'm missing....

Dollar wise I can add a well for 8 grand and can supply 30-35 gallons per minute. My well guys says I would need 5 gpm. To hire someone to do the dirt work would be 180 per hour, if i can even find someone to drain it, deal with the current fish population, and fix the leak.

So I need some advise on which is the best approach? I lean towards the well as it is simpler and would seem cheaper. However you still have leak to deal with. I'm afraid hiring someone and that it will be so costly to the point of affordability.

I need this groups help!

Your leak isn't bad (all things are relative after all). My sandy ground groundwater pond needs 25 gpm to stay even. In the last 2 weeks my pond has dropped almost 10".....

If you do dig a well, make sure the well driller puts double or triple the normal well screen on the casing. Typically wells go bad because the screen plugs up. With the amount of water you'd be running thru it, the more screen area means that it will take longer to plug up. My driller put 2 lengths of drill screen on my well. He said that by changing the size of the pump the aquifier and well casing would support 100 gpm.

It's not only the cost of the well, but the cost of the electricity, and the engineering that would be required to enable you to run the well thru the winter without freezing up too.

Lot's of ponds have small leaks. My dad's old pond had a leak in when it was built in the early 1960's, it was still leaking when he sold it 2008.

If it were me I would go with the well.

A half inch drop in the water level in one week could be nothing more than simple evaporation.

I would leave it alone. The leak will most likely fix itself over time. The leak could be evaporation at that rate.

I had hoped that was the case but i have found the spot where it is leaking on the back side of the damn.

Agreed there is some other additional costs to factor into. I wouldn't run it in the winter. Last year we had enough moisture to make the pond overflow and this year we had very little snow/rain and it stayed about even.

Bossone,

The leak doesn't sound bad. We have had very little rain/snow the last 8+ months. My pond is down 3+ feet from where it was the end of June last year (high point). I would bet you are losing more to evaporation than the leak. Especially if you measured it recently where we where 20+ degrees warmer than normal and had lots of wind. Lets hope we get some rain soon to bring things back up.

I been thinking of adding a well myself to supplement. If you don't mind could you PM me the name/number of the well guy you talked to.

Bossone
One thing you could do is to call the people at Seepage Control. They have a product that you pour into the water to seal a leaking pond. They claim the product is environmental friendly and does not harm the fish. If you want to learn more the web site is http://www.seepagecontrol.com. I don't know how much it would cost but they should be able to give you a quote.

Understand your concern, but .5" weekly isn't a leak in my world of seepage! Consider yourself pretty fortunate. I agree it's likely evaporation, or if it is a seep it's an awfully minor one. I easily lose 3-4" weekly and still don't consider it an issue, mainly because there are no products or services available to accurately identify and remediate the leak and I have a well to help address.

I punched a well for this very reason - and to enable me to sleep at night even during a horrible drought. Depending on the size of your BOW - 30-35 GPM will work fine. I pump just under 50, and it takes a full week to raise 12". That might be useful info for you figuring the time/expense of running your well. Remember water fluctuations are a natural part of the life of a pond and can be a very beneficial pond management tool, too.

I think you can rest easy, but if you do end up trying some product PLEASE keep us in the loop as we would all benefit from your experience!

OK I buy the fact there is some evaporation. That has to be a given and I accept that. I also realize in our area that we are having drought conditions and my pond is still down the 5 ft it was last fall.

What I am troubled with is I can see the water run out of the damm @ about 12 ft. below full pool. It is a steady trickle so I know there is a leak. Add this with evaporation and no rain and it makes me nervous with my new pond.

I'm a rookie at this and may be over reacting, but that is why I'm here to pick the brains of the experts and get the best advise to get me back to a comfortable state of mind

I'd take the well money and completely redo the pond.. Just think of the possiblities of a fresh pond to work with.. I know that's not what you wanna here but anything else is just a bandaid fix..

Before you get nervous, please consider this:

Every pond leaks. Period. Ask Mike Otto, Bob Lusk, Eric West, Condello, Cody....all ponds leak. You have a couple choices as this is apparently an issue you want to resolve, which I understand.

1. You can pay for treatment to try and seal the fissure[s]. Finding them is difficult, sealing them is even more so. Maybe one of those sealant products out there works, I don't think I've heard Mike Otto or Bob cite any success stories in my memory though, so I'm cautiously hopeful at their effectiveness.

2. You can punch a well. In my opinion, this is the wisest solution as supplemental irrigation will help protect you during drought conditions. Being at the mercy of mother nature was not something I wanted to do, especially considering my small watershed - I never could have filled my ponds with natural precipitation, so I had no choice.

$8k may not come close to paying for starting all over, plus you may never find the leak and only relive the past. In your place I'd deal with the leak, punch a well, and keep it filled, your fish happy, and your dreams sweet.

Did you consider a small pond near the leak to raise minnows? Make lemonade...

8 grand for a well seems awfully steep unless you have to go down a few hundred feet. I paid 2 grand for a 88 foot well and 45 gpm pump. My original estimate was 4 grand from another well driller and he never showed up. I think I'd be checking around if I went the well route.

I didn't go on the cheap either. Turns out the 4 grand guy puts in cheap pumps as I found out when my household well died. He was the one that did my household well.

I've contacted another driller and he is closer to 6k, less than 10k for a complete pressurized system. Not to mention the cost of running electricity to it. I guess after listening to the above advise, I feel better about it. Still not sure what to do, other than wait. Hopefully Otto will see this and comment as well.

Thanks for the continued help and input!