Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Soil questions Does Cat Litter Really Work?

I'm close to appyling "Special Kitty" to a frog pond, but tornadoes, running in power service, and contracting to build a cabin keeps getting in the way.

Back in '09 when I was having my well put in I compared the bentonite that my driller used to seal the top with Walmart's(Scottsboro, AL) 'Special Kitty' litter using 3 tall 5gal plastic buckets with lots of 1/4" holes in the bottom.
Unpacked:
B1; 6" fine silty sand; water drained right thru it in about 20min
B2; 2" gravel in the bottom, 4" 50/50 mix unpacked bentonite & silty sand; water begin draining out the bottom but then slowed, a 2nd fill and water dropped 7" in 24hrs (appearred to leak along plastic edges more than thru soil)
B3; 2" gravel in bottom, 4" 50/50 mix Sp.Kitty & silty sand; similiar results to bucket2 (note; 1st trail there was a difference, but subsequent trails varied with similiar average results)
Packed:
B1; 6" fine silty sand, too gooey to effectively pack but effort made; water drained in 3hrs 30min
B2; 2" gravel in bottom, 4" 50/50 mix bentonite; 3/4" drop 1st day, 1/4" drop 2nd day (evaporation?)
B3; no significant difference to B2

For me, Walmart kitty litter costs the same as bentonite delivered and is more convenient. The Scottsboro folks are pretty laid back, plus Walmart is all about sales. I think I can arrange to pull a pickup truck around back and they'll happily forklift load a pallet.

Seems a viable alternative if you live out away from Wyoming or their distributors.