Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Pond Leaking should I worry?

My pond looses about 1/4 inch a day. It's about .6 acres, and during construction last spring the dozer hit solid rock in the center of the pond. There was also some white colored clay in the bottom, so we thought it would have a problem holding water.

But I am getting some leakage at the back of the dam. I have a feeling that water is leaking agaist the rock under the damn since they cored the dam to rock. I think we probably should have put some layers of that clay over the rock bottom.

Is there anything that I could do short of draining it and packing clay over that area.

1/4 inch isn't that much water to loose and I could probably live with it.

If I do nothing will it begin to loose more and more water?

Scsims.You should search this topic on this site.It will provide info on bentonite {sp} clay. See an article in Pond Boss last winter on the topic. Oil and Gas drilling companies use drilling mud which is made up of water and bentonite clay. The clay is dry in bags . We fixed a pond that had a stray sand that was leaking by adding several bags of aquagel {that is what the powdered drilling mud mix was called}. One application stopped the leak. I hope this helps.Ewest

The following company carries Bentonite products:

CETCO
521 East Epsom Road, Unit 1-B
Towson, MD 21286
410-339-7424

Maybe they have a distributor in KY or at least closer to your location.

You may also be able to get it from a local feed supply company or a water well driller. I've purchased it for as little as $5.00 per bag from a feed supply company which I believe were 50 lb. bags. I thinks it's called sodium bentonite and some pig farmers add it to feed to increase the bulk of the feed.

How many bags should I buy?

Should I just pore it over the area I suspect of leaking?

Scsims I've seen three ponds that tried Bentonite repairs. None were successful. Still it's far less expensive than draining and adding clay. Southern States carried Bentonite in my part of Ky.

Scsims,

It's true this doesn't always work but many times if the the leak is not substantial it may work. It worked for me in a small holding pond once.

Not sure what to tell you on how much to use. It's pretty much trial and error. If it was me I would be willing to spend up to $500.00 worth to give it a shot but that's just me.

I would dump in on the inside of your damn of course if you're sure it's the damn that is doing it.

As far as your other question it's possible you leak will subside as many ponds seep a little at first. As organic matter builds up that should slow the seepage. Still if it was me I would try the bentonite "sprinkle method."

At only 1 year old and only dropping 1/4 inch a day I would give nature a little more time. I can lose up to 1 inch a day during the hot dry times in North Alabama.

Bob

I agree with Bob, give it some more time. If you go the bentonite route, you need to target for 8 pounds per sq. foot over the leaking areas. The objective is to get a minimum of a 1 inch layer of bentonite over the entire leaking area....that's based on a clay bottom. May be more for your situation.

I think I will wait and see. One more question about it though.

With the water seaping under the dam will it create a larger leak the longer the water moves through the same area? Or is it more likely to pull the sediment you guys spoke about into the leak and slow it down over time?

Thats one of those "it depends" tough questions. If the leak is significant, i.e visible running water, then it could get worse and undermine the entire structure. More likely as you described this is a slow leak that over time generally improves with more compaction due to natural forces. However, it may never totally seal. All ponds leak to some extent. It took 2 years for my newly constructed pond to reach equilibrium and yes I still have some small leaks, but it is acceptable.

I hope yours turns out to stabilize at an acceptable level.

I have a half ac. pond I drained 3 times. Finally drained enough that I could dig back into the dam to where the 4" drain pipe was crushed. I removed the crushed section & the spring flowed through the pipe for about a month. Before it dried enough to get in with a bobcat to rework the pond it stopped up again & is now completely full & running over the spillway!
It's got a 4" hole through the dam & the dam is dug back into about 1/3! NO water comming through the pipe!
I couldn't get it to leak even though I tried!

No point here just frustrated & needed to vent.