Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Soil questions Dam Leaking Orange Stuff!

Hello, I'm new to this site and love all this info.

I had a embankment pond biult last spring, and it's about .75 acre and 11ft deep. I have alot of clay in my area as I had to have a lagoon put in instead of a lateral system.

The pond filled up quick in about a month and we had a fairly wet summer and it stayed almost totally full except when it hadn't rained in a couple of days I would notice the water would began to drop below the drain pipe. So I stuck a ruler in the mud and could document that it would loose about 1/4 inch everyday that it didn't rain. And to this day it still looses about the same everyday. I figured that the pond had some seapage but 1/4 inch isn't too bad as long as we don't go a couple of months without rain.

Yesterday I was able to find below that dam to the center and about 30ft from the base that there is a wet area and it has a orange oily residue in it. I also found a spot alittle higher on the dam above where the dain pipe comes out. It's the same orangy stuff butt much smaller, maybe 6 inches by 10 inches. The larger one below the dam is probably 2ft by 3 ft.

Is this what water looks like that is seaping though the dam?

Try this thread:

Iron Bacteria

Thanks, that's what it is.

But I am still wondering the water is coming from my pond. Would it not be leaking from my pond since the iron bateria is from ground water or could it be picking up the stuff as it seaps through the ground?

The gelatinous globs of the bacteria grow on the iron that is precipitated out of the water. Iron is very sensitive to REDOX potential. Anytime water is oxygenated there is the potential to form a precipitate. One way the iron precipitate occurs is by the oxygenation of groundwater. It can also happen in other ways.

Groundwater is a good example because it contains little or no oxygen and for this reason is commonly saturated or even supersaturated with iron. All it takes is a little oxygen and a precipate will occur as everyone has seen on porcelain sinks and toilets. Pond water though it contains some concentration of oxygen, could also form a precipitate should additional aeration occur (as water leaks from through the dam).

When my pond draws down, the iron contained in the sediments is oxidized during periods of low water (when sediments are exposed to air). It's not noticeable when its dry but when the water level comes back up, there will be a 1-2' wide orange ring that is visible just above the low water mark (visible right now).

I'm not sure if the orange bacteria can be used to determine the source of the seepage at your dam just by its presence or absence. If a groundwater sample, pond water sample and seepage water sample were collected and analyzed, it would be possible to model the source of the seepage by the water chemistry. A tracer might be used.