Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Help NEW LAKE/LEAK OR NO LEAK

Lance - I'm from OH 3 hrs north of you and in our area we have a lot of clay lined ponds with a 8 ft wide "keyway" all the way around not just at the dam. These ponds lose very little water when filled. However some of these ponds, when improperly built, leak down to 2 to 4 feet from full and then water retention remains stable there. Basically in very well sealed ponds, the primary water loss is due to evaporation and in our area, they can lose about 1/4" per day (1.7"-2"/wk)when it is hot and breezy. A rain will make some of this up. One inch loss per day is obviously a leak. This is especially apparent when the water loss suddenly stabilizes at a certain depth. Use upright stick markers to track your daily/weekly water loss.

Since your pond has a dam and all the upper sides probably do not have compacted wide clay walls, I suspect water is seeping out in an area somewhere in the variably compacted or lose dirt layers surrounding the pond. Sand or lose soil veins also are problematic. Water seepage may be in only one vulnerable area. Only when the pond is full, will you get a good idea of its relative water tightness. As Bob said "all dirt leaks" and all earth bottomed ponds leak; its just the amount of leakage that makes the difference. How much is tolerable?? Properly compacted clay just becomes very resistant to leakage.