Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations ? pond liner installation

just drained my leaky pond & ordered an epdm liner & some underlayment. i've searched the liner sales sites for installation info, but haven't found much. somewhere i once read i should bury the edges. if that's the case, how deep should i bury them? are there any other important points i should know about installing the liner? pond is about 150'x75' & i bought enough liner to cover up to about 4' from the top of the pond.

Shane,
If you click on Search (upper right corner of this screen) type in Pond Liner, under Questions and Observations topic you'll find lots of info on liners.
Ric

been there, done that
read all the articles
no useful info on installation
did find a good reference to a bend-tarp website
thanks
shane

Shane,
Just curious as to why you stopped with the liner below the top of the pond. The trench is put in to stop wind from catching under it until it gets covered with rock and to prevent water from getting under. Some people don't do this step. I hope you are adding rock to the banks. Use more underlayment between the rocks and the liner. How are you going to seal the seams? Make sure you have plenty of help on installation. backhoe or bobcat is very handy to move rolls.
Robert B

robert b,
i stopping the liner below the pond level because i don't want to be able to see the liner if the water is low & because i can run a 50' wide piece of liner with no seams @ this level. i know the bottom of the pond leaks. i'm hoping the top is better sealed. do you think the water will seep behind the liner down to where the leak is?

Unfortunately yes. Hopefully some others will disagree with me for your sake. When we install a liner we always run it above the water level and cover it to a depth of about 5 feet with stone to prevent muskrats, beavers, ice, and others from damaging it. Liners are fundamentally easy to do, but there are many little things that we do to make them last.
Robert B

Water will absolutely go under a liner, if the liner isn't installed properly. Every liner I have seen, that's been properly installed, comes beyond the top of the pond, onto the shoreline, where it's sealed with a dirt layer, or riprap. The entire liner is covered with dirt, to give the effect of a "natural" pond, and to keep the liner from rising off the bottom.

Bob,

How's a liner going to come off the bottom with all that water pressure on it? I put one in my holding pond and there was no way it was going to budge with all the water pressure on top of it.

Just curious.

Greetings Cecil!
When I wrote that post a few minutes ago, I didn't choose the best words.
I have seen liners, improperly installed, come off the bottom.
If there's any air under the liner, or if water can percolate under the liner in spots where there's air pockets, I have seen a liner rise. When it rises, it pulls away from the shore, and the pond must be drained and the liner re-installed.
If the liner isn't installed above the water line, and there's porous soils, that too can compromise the effectiveness of the liner.

I've seen ponds where water has run between the liner and the pond wall. That really causes lots of problems.