Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Renovating a Pond or Lake? pond leak

We have an old pond on our property that we cleaned up last spring. Even though we used a layer of clay there's one sandy spot that is leaking. Can we use polymer while it's dry?

We have a member that sells product and also provides free expert advice.

Here is a link to a thread where TJ is one of the posters. You can send him a private message by clicking on his name in the thumbnail, or go to his email in one of his posts in that thread.

Pond Leak Thread

He might be very busy right now, so be patient on waiting for a direct reply.

Good luck on getting your new pond fixed!

Yes, using the stuff that TJ has, incorporate it in the top 6" of the soil. How big of an area is it?

Fill from an outside water source, (well, surface run off, etc. ) don't rely on ground water to fill it. Ground water coming in through that area will push it out and the pond won't seal.

Where in Indiana?

It's about a 10x10 area. It fills pretty well when we get rain, but drops down to that same spot within a couple weeks. Lafayette, IN

The 2 part polymer that TJ sells can be spread out on the top of wet areas or worked into the soil in dry areas. You are relatively close, I'm about 45 minutes to an hour NNE of you.

Those leaks don’t seal themselves

AquaBlok's product is also something to look into. With the area of concern know there wouldn't be any issue sealing it up and would most likely cost less than a polymer.

When clay dries up it cracks and doesn't heal itself. It can be sealed with dry clay, even sandy clay and add an amendment that allows it to pull back together when rehydrated, but you may not have that specific product available in your area.
For TJ's product to work "best", the pond needs to be full per his recommendations, for max hydrostatic pressure. For any amendment to work, soil has to be 22-28% moisture, it has to be properly compacted and filled before it dries much.