Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Soil questions Hydrated Lime

Ok, I heard someone mention hydrated lime to fix seepage/leak. Does anyone know if this works or tried it? I have some shelves that were cut in when the pond was built and I think it's seeping there. I'm still losing about 3/4" a day. Ponds not full yet, was built last Oct. Thanks.

If there are already fish in your pond, adding hydrated lime will kill most all of them with the PH shock it will cause.

I can't imagine any way hydrated lime could seal a pond as it is a fine powder that readily and completely dissolves in water. It sounds like you may be thinking of Sodium Bentonite clay.

If your pond is not full, it could be still be a combination of the pond saaturating the surounding soil and evaporation. I would not be overly concerned with it till after it fills---twice.

I would worry a little if it was built last October and was left to fill over winter,and hasn't yet become full. We live along the same lattitude roughly, the great lakes, more or less. I don't know your situtation but the type of soil there I am assumming is similar to around here. It only takes a spring thaw around here to max a ponds level out. I waited for my water level to come up more the first spring and it never did, that usually means, WYSIWYG, what you see is what you get. The loss of 3/4" a day is a little much this early in the year though too, so it does sound like you have a leak but I am basing this on conditions around here. Draining and fixing it is the only way I would attack it.

You mention shelves that were cut in, what were they cut into Rock? Shale? If they were cut into native/virgin material I can't imagine they would leak, also can't imagine any pond builder cutting into a material that would leak and not telling you he thought it would leak there. How deep are these shelves? Can you drain down to their level and fix them without completely draining your pond?

The shelves were cut in to a clay/sand mix. Mostly clay (probably 60% clay)they call it red dog here, its a real red clay. The only reason I think it might be seeping there is that it seems to be stable until it gets over the first shelf. Everyone else tells me not to worry about it yet like Rainman said. I find it hard not to worry about it though obsession would probably be a good term . We are suppose to get a few inches of rain today so well see what happens. Rainman I'm about an hour from you if you ever want to take a road trip and give some advice on what to do next. Thanks everybody. Keep you posted. Oh and the hydrated lime was in an earlier post where someone said this old farmer told them he had used it to fix leaks for years but no one could substantiate this.

My Father also said a farmer told hime about lime...No substantial info here either

Ag lime may help with leaks. That is different from hydrated lime. Not as good as bentonite however.