Hi! First time poster, looking for advice.
I recently bought a house with a small pond. Picture attached; I'm letting it drain while figuring out what repairs it needs.
* Eyeballing, it's about 30' diameter
* 2-3 feet deep when full
* Kept full year round by pumping from a well
* Probably been here like this for 50 years
* In California... it's hot, it never freezes, and it barely rains
It's right next to the house and as far as I can tell it's unlined. Not only does this require fairly continuous pumping in the summer, but water saturated ground has been causing the foundation to sink.
I've fixed the foundation and probably won't have further trouble, but I'd also like to do something to slow the water intrusion and reduce the pump rate. I'm thinking more along the lines of "reduce the leakage" rather than "make it watertight", but I'm not really sure what's possible or even a good idea.
My goal for the pond is just to have something pretty to look at, that grows reeds and frogs and dragonflies. No interest in fish and I want it to be as low maintenance as possible. I don't mind pumping water but I don't want to manage filters or chemistry or anything like that.
Should I try to mix some bentonite into the bottom? Or just put some overlapping plastic liner layers without worrying about sealing them too much? If I do seal it too well, do I need to worry about making a miniature Great Salt Lake with the summer evaporation?
Any advice is welcome (except "fill it in"
)
Thanks in advance!
