Well, I'm back.

I haven't posted in a few months bout my pond. I have about 5 acres about 45 mins north of Pittsburgh, PA. Had a pond "renovated" last summer. There was an old pond there, builder broke the damn and it just turned into a marsh/swamp. So I had an excavator (family friend) redo the pond, he dug out a much larger area bout 1/4 acre. She is 11.5' at it deepest point. But she has leaked from day one. When I had him come back out and look at it, he said that the leak was normal, it was probably just a spring not actually a leak.
My pond is fed from 2-3 natural springs so after a rain it is really humming into the pond.
So all winter she was mostly full, granted we had 70/73 days with rain or snow here this winter. So there was plenty to fill it. But this past week, gorgeous weather, 5-6 days in a row with no rain - my water level is down a foot, foot and a half. All the while 2 springs are still feeding into it.

Clearly I have a problem. I believe its on the backside of the dam where i can see flowing water 24/7.

Anyone have an advice, or an affordable expert in the area. I've already dumped money into the project, and family friend wont return calls or texts. I'm assuming he just doesn't want to deal with it, or doesn't know how...

This is a picture from a few weeks ago when she was totally full.

That is a pretty pond. As a self-employed business person I learned many years ago that it did not make business sense to deal with friends or family. It ends badly for most people. You probably need to move on and get a pro to fix your pond. Get a written contract of what he will do and see if he will agree in writing to come back and fix it if it should leak within a year. Oral contracts mean nothing in court and if a person won't give you a written contract, drop him and find someone else. Good luck.

Thanks KenC. Agreed. I'm not using hard feelings, just don't want a mud pit in the back yard. She sure is pretty when she's full.

Is that a spring house or a root cellar? How old is the house? I have one that looks a lot like that one(a real money pit) that was built in 1906.

Probably gonna need drained and the dam cored.. Is the leak at the bottom or top of dam?

What does cored mean? That too bad, i've got a real nice supply of minnows growing in there.

I'm guessing its toward the higher elevation of the damn...but i don't now i can't really see where the water is coming from without some machinery to clear the crap in the back. There is old peice of cement and metal on the other side of the dam. I think from an old barn or something that was there once upon a time.

and yes Kenc that is a spring house in the distace, my neighbors and mine is just off the pic on the far right hand side.

House is 2 yrs old, we built it on some old farm land.

You did a really good job blending the house to the rural area,it looks like it has been there forever. It is hard to make people understand that their ideal house plan does not match up well with the land and area. That is why so many houses sticks out like a sore thumb. I have always wanted to build a spring house but probably never will. Good luck.

A core is something like this, only wider. It's tied into soil at the ends of the dam that don't let water thru, and is tied into the same type of soil under the dam. It's usually made from clay, and compacted in layers as it's placed to ensure that it won't let water thru it.


The PB member that took the picture was digging thru his dam to find a leak.

There's another picture of a cross section of a dam here: http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-0195/anr195two.html

Haha sorry kenc. That is my neighbors house. It's the old farmhouse. You probably wouldn't like mine as much.

Ok o draining the pond seems inevitable. That sucks.

But from your description it is only minnows, right? You can buy a few pounds of them and be back into business fairly easily and quick.

Just think if you wanted to drain it with nice size fish that takes years to get there. Then it's OUCH!!!

Better to fix it now before its to big of a treasure.