Hey pond people
Well now it is winter, and unseasonably cold here, so no more swimming for me, but I just learned a new trick for finding leaks that I wanted to share.
My pond has maintained the same water level all winter as it did all summer. After a big rain it fills to overflowing but then quickly drops back to the same level. Obviously there was a leak somewhere at about the same level it dropped to.
It is just the last 6 or 8 inches, so it doesn't matter that much, but I still suspect if I could find and seal those last leaks, my pond would probably overflow most or even all of the year.
The problem is, the edges are now grown over with thick grass and clover and marginal water plants, so it would be next to impossible to find small leaks.
We are having a cold snap of minus 6 Celsius at night and highs of 0. This put a skim of ice over my pond, and I got an idea. Moving water tends to stay open, and I knew the leak must be at about the same level the water had gone down to, so I went to see if any areas at the edge were ice free because of the movement in the water caused by the flow going out through the leak.
Withing 2 minutes I found 2 leaks which once I found them could be seen to have a visible current, and this movement of the water had kept the area of the bank around the leak ice free..
Probably if it was really cold, like minus 20, even the moving water would freeze, but for anyone who has a leak that causes the pond to consistently drop to a certain level, mildly freezing weather, which creates a thin skim of ice everywhere the water is still, is a really effective way to find the leak.
On the subject of sending roof water to the pond. I have heard that some roofing material contains elements which can leach into water and be a problem, so probably people should do some research on what might be in their own run off before using it. I have a metal roof, which does not affect the water running off it. My roof water is yellow colored though. I think it is from the leaves and debris in my gutters.
