Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Help 60+ year old pond, leaking, Animal hole?

We have just inherited the maintaince of a family farm. There is a pond on the property that is probably 60+ years old. Just recently we noticed that the dam area has a slow trickle on the backside. We believe it's probably an animal hole based on the location.

How can we find and fix the hole? I've read about bentonite clay, is this an option? The pond is probably about 5-6feet deep in that area.

Welcome to the forum! Finding it and fixing it may be 2 totally different things. It also could be a tree root that has died and decomposed, leaving a void in the dam.

Bentonite may or may not fix it. There have been both success and failures using it.

Maybe go to a local farm store and buy a gallon of pond dye? Pour some near where you see the leak and if the leak changes color, that may narrow down the search a bit.

Thanks for the feedback, we think we know where the leak is andfixing it is now the issue. It seems to be an animal hole about 6-7 inches across about a foot below the surface of the water on the breast of the dam. SOmeone told us to use Sacrete? If I dumped bentonite into the area could is close a hole that big?

I doubt that Bentonite will work, and even without digging to enlarge the area around the hole I don't think the bagged concrete will work either.

Cecil used concrete for some mole runs, but they are 2"-3" in diameter, and he still dug down to them.