Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Pond leak help

Thanks again NNAFish! Your pond is definitely clearer than mine.
I've tried some dye a long time ago on the surface and got no where. Do you think blue pond dye in balloons would work? It is easy to get. Or would it be so strong that it would turn the water to blue to see?
My pond is about 6 years old and still hasn't been completely full. I think it will be about a half acre, maybe a little more if I'm lucky, and about 19' deep. The fullest it has been is about 17 feet. Which it did the last 3 years in late winter,early spring. I thought it would get higher this year since it was higher at the first of the year, but it has been a bad year for rain for me. In a drought now,and the pond is the lowest it has been in 3 years or more, probably around 11'-12' deep right now. The lower it gets the less it loses per day, so it might not be losing enough to pull the dye very well right now. The last time it was at 17', it was probably losing about 1 1/4" per day.
I've been looking at the cameras on line and so far I haven't seen one less than your camera, that didn't get some complaints.
If I hadn't just started building a new house, I would just go for it but everything is costing way more than I hoped, especially my vault door. Lol!

Bobbss, the blue dye might work. What I read is that green or yellow dye is best for cloudy water. If you could score that color it may be better than blue. I don’t have personal experience though with murkier water. Both red and blue were easily detectible in our pond….but being clear, any color would likely work for me.

I found this dye online that I would try…or something similar. https://www.forestry-suppliers.com/...RbHoDGy4fUobs2A5EKKlgf1JShBoC0XgQAvD_BwE

Cameras are certainly handy. I don’t want to spend your money for you. And I certainly understand with the house expenses. Prioritize the house for sure. I ice fish and enjoy the camera for that as well. It’s entertainment and functional for our pond leak diagnosis. It’s paid for itself already.”

It makes sense that your leak is less with a lower water level and less hydrostatic pressure. It has been a tough drought year for most of the country. If you could get the water higher…say 15-16, I would feel better about trying a dye experiment with more water pressure. 1 1/4” isn’t awful…and 6 years in it doesn’t appear to be getting worse. But I totally understand the frustration of not seeing the pond full.

I’ll be interested to hear your progress. At this point of the year maybe next spring would be a better time to try hoping we have a wetter winter. Gotta protect the valuables with a solid vault!

Thanks NAAFish for all the info. I'll keep researching cameras and following along with your post.