Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Building a dam I think I have a leak around the overflow pipe

I will start that this weekend. Thanks!

This is by far the most rain we’ve had since we built the pond. The water level is still at the bottom of the drain pipe. My food plots are healthy. I’m mowing everywhere. I keep waiting for the rain to stop, and water levels to drop.. Not happening. I’m sure things will dry up this fall. The water level will need to get below where the pipe comes out of the dam, in order to try this fix.

Well, I still haven’t tried the fix for the leak around the pipe. We did have very dry conditions during fall and winter, but the pond level didn’t get low enough to try and excavate around the pipe. Now we’ve had enough rain the pond is full. I’m sure we will go back to a drought situation once I plant the food plots.
Pic from last week. We’ve had more rain since then, with more coming.
Not sure if the picture is going to show up or not. Drone shot of pretty full pond.

Looks green!! I don't believe the pier was there the last time I was there.

Spillway leak due to poorly compacted clay around pipe and perhaps no antiseep collars installed. Clay must be HAND TAMPED around pipe and as collars.

Fixing is simple in my experience: Either drain pond 2-3' or wait for Summer drop and excavate as much material as possible from pipe on pond side. Compact layer of clay followed by layer of SeekLeak polymer or Sodium Bentonite, and keep adding these compacted layers until original excavated material has been replaced. Resolved hundreds of spillway leaks this way - process take a couple hours.

It always has a weird color when using the drone. Not sure if it’s just the actual color but from a distance, but it doesn’t look like that up close.
That’s a floating dock. I keep getting 4 x 10’ sections from Menards, and adding them on.
Pic, if it shows up shows a bit of the dock, and color of the water. Also shows my crazy 11 yr old grandson diving in. Water was painfully cold last week.

Thx TJ. That was similar to plan I was thinking of earlier. Only I was thinking of concrete around the pipe. Water just has not been low enough to try it. There are 2 seep collars in place. I think maybe they are too far back from the front of the dam. I thought they compacted the soil pretty well around the pipe and collars, but the ground settled about 6” after a few years, so my take is they did not pack the soil properly.
Is SeekLeak, the same as the SoilFloc I got from you before? It would be easier than mixing concrete down there.
Thx again.

You don't need an entire unit of SeekLeak - waste of money for a project that small, I'd just alternate compacted hydrated clay and bentonite layer after layer and you'll be fine. Might be a good project in July/August when water level drops. The bad thing about a spillway leak is they will, due to physics and the fact water is a universal solvent, get worse annually. The good thing is they only leak when the pond is full...if one considers that a good thing. Way better than a dam or hydrostatic basin leak, anyhow. We already improved that leak for you, thankfully. At the end of the day, I wouldn't lose much sleep over it - but address when it's convenient. 50# bag of sodium bentonite powder will likely be enough - $13.

Thanks TJ, we are getting rain and more rain. I’m thinking water is definitely pouring out of the overflow pipe at this point. I’ll excavate around the pipe late this summer, and see what it looks like. Then try the bentonite layering.