Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations have leak on backside of dam, how long to fix?

I have a pond recently built about 10 months ago. Almost full, but just discovered small trickle leak on back of dam about half way down. Not too bad, but I fear it will get worse.
How long does this type of thing take until a complete dam failure might take place? Weeks, months?
I just don't want to panic .

Erosion can happen fast, keep an eye on it daily. Meanwhile I would notify your builder ASAP and get him out to look at it. If it blows, you at least warned him. Could be nothing, but do you really want to take that chance?

I lost a newly built dam just when it filled. I had a water leak down the length of the overflow pipe. If the leak grows, it will go very fast. Take photos of both sides of your dam. Call the builder.

Yeah, and all of your dam building soil goes away with it.

How fast? I don't live at the property, so can't check every day.

There is no answer. It may trickle like that from now on or it may blow out in one day. I had one in the dam on my small pond for over 12 years after I built it. It was only active at full pool, so it was a shallow leak. It finally sealed off for some reason. I suspect it was because it was so shallow of a leak and I am constantly running over it with a riding mower in the summer.

Consider putting in a temporary siphon system, such as using 4" sewer and drain tubing, to lower the water level ASAP.

A flowing leak in the dam is not going to get better! The only question is how fast it will take the dam out in a full breech.

Where in Missouri are you?

I wonder if it would be worth giving that Polymer Innovations product a shot? For a few hundred dollars, there isn't much to lose. You can purchase on Ebay.
http://www.polymerinnovations.com.au/solutions/dam-pond-sealants/
No I haven't tried it out yet, but may try the seep product in the fall.

The property is near Laurie, north of Lake of the Ozarks.

Pond almost full and leak halfway up the backslope. Doesn't say how many feet of elevation delta we're dealing with here, but there could be some hydraulic pressure on the leak path. Reducing water level will reduce leakage and could save the dam.

I second the suggestion to drain pond some. If your pond has a valved drain line, use that. If not, a siphon system. I successfully built one with flexible hoses (4" & 6" 100' long are cheap) but the "up and over" from water level to max was just 2-3'. If more than that, you may have to go hard pipes, T fitting with a removable cap to fill on top (lotta Youtube videos). If nothing else, get a pump and pump it over the dam.

You're better off losing water than a dam. Don't need to drain all the way, just down to where leak is. Get your builder out there. If they do any work, they'll want to drop water level anyway.

The contractor is meeting me at the pond Saturday. That is also the earliest I can get there myself. I am praying that it doesn't get much worse by then.

Well, the contractor visited yesterday. The leak has not worsened as I can tell. He says it should be fine for a while, no emergency. He is going to dig from backside to find leak and patch with bentonite. Also going to add tons on additional clay and dirt to backside to get 3:1 slope. Currently too steep at about 1:1 slope. I feel much better.

Sounds better, Jon. Good luck...

Hope it works but I've not heard of success fixing from the back.