Pond Boss
Posted By: CityDad Pond Rebuild Qs-> Liner v No Liner - 09/28/20 08:48 PM
Hey guys!

Looking at purchases and my wife likes my dream purchase which includes a 1/10 acre spring fed pond with lots of watershed (at least 7 acres of the property its on).

The soil looks like solid georgia red clay. Typical for the area.
There are a few other private ponds in the area.

This pond also has a spring feeding it (I'd guess 2-3 galloons a minute) has a liner (that needs to be replaced). Anyone have a good idea why they'd want a liner when they have so much clay? Quirk of the previous owner (deceased, can't ask him), or do I need to do a bunch of soil tests to look for something sinister if I want to go sans liner?

I'll post some pictures later.

Also- how do yall feel about watershed comingin off the road? Is it a huge problem, not a problem, or something in between? it's a relatively busy road
Posted By: CityDad Re: Pond Rebuild Qs-> Liner v No Liner - 09/29/20 12:33 AM
Some photos:
https://imgur.com/gallery/qltJQAd

Thanks for input! Paging smart people!
Posted By: Steve_ Re: Pond Rebuild Qs-> Liner v No Liner - 09/29/20 01:43 AM
Are you sure that's 1/10th of an acre? It's hard to tell from the pics, but my initial impression was 1/20th of an acre. As for your question, I'm not sure. Maybe the previous owner didn't even think about the clay and just wanted a "sure thing" with the liner. That's a tough call if you'd look to rebuild it. I don't have any answers for you, but I'm rooting for you man. I can see your passion through all the posts you've made, and I hope your pond dream comes true!

Also, just a tip when using Imgur, make your posts "hidden" when posting them, otherwise you'll get idiots making stupid comments on them, like you already have now. Unless you don't care, in which case, ignore that bit of info lol.
Posted By: CityDad Re: Pond Rebuild Qs-> Liner v No Liner - 09/29/20 07:20 PM
I usually do hide em I just forgot this time.

I used the drawing thing on google maps *shrug* Ill bring something to attempt a better measure when I go back Wednesday
Posted By: Steve_ Re: Pond Rebuild Qs-> Liner v No Liner - 09/29/20 08:30 PM
Ok, so it was around 4300 sq ft?
Posted By: CityDad Re: Pond Rebuild Qs-> Liner v No Liner - 10/02/20 11:22 PM
yea, I'm eyeballing it at ~75' in diameter, so that checks out as 1/10 acre.

More pictures here: ANyone know anything about liners? Is this thing salvagable?
ABout to fork over 800+ to lakework to figure that out

https://imgur.com/a/faeQftC

Also- In Regards to Structure, do you make different structure for different types of fish? I.e. if I were to go the 'All small mouth bass' route vs 'standard bluegill+bass' pond. Does that change the type of structure I should build?
Posted By: Steve_ Re: Pond Rebuild Qs-> Liner v No Liner - 10/03/20 12:38 AM
Originally Posted by CityDad
yea, I'm eyeballing it at ~75' in diameter, so that checks out as 1/10 acre.

Ok cool, it just looked a lot smaller and I didn't want you to end up getting something you didn't like. A perfectly round pond with a 75' diameter does equate to 4418 square feet, which is almost exactly 1/10th of an acre, but a 50' diameter pond is less than 1/20th of an acre at 1963 sq ft. It does look pretty cool though, and would make a great panfish pond. Excited to see how it turns out.
Posted By: CityDad Re: Pond Rebuild Qs-> Liner v No Liner - 10/03/20 07:34 PM
It's roughly teardropped shaped. Might be a little under but I dont think much.
Either way its a good first pond.

RIght now biggest concern is measuring the depth, is it deep enough for fish in this area? Might need to get a canoe and a stick and paddle out to the middle.

Also- If I *need* that liner, can this one be fixed or do I need to fork over $$$$$$ for a new one.

Wish those answers could cost less than $1k but I dont think they can. Unless I want to do it all myself and risk forking it up worse. Which.... has it's upside. If I can find the right info I might do that as an educational experiance.
Posted By: CityDad Re: Pond Rebuild Qs-> Liner v No Liner - 10/04/20 04:41 PM
Hey Guys,


Gotta ask a question here-> If I wanted to attempt to work on this myself (i know I know big oopsiedoodle incoming)

How do I empty the pond so I can inspect the liner and underneath it? I know a trash pump can do it but where doI send all that WATER?

That's the part I guess hiring a pro comes in.The best I can think to do is to build a 'dam' from the main creek and the water runoff 'creek' out of sandbags that is really high/thick.Then build the runoff 'creek' dam higher and pump the water into that until its low enough for me to get in and look at the liner.

That seems to me like it would take a week of filling sandbags (and maybe a hernia)


The pond is on 7.5 acres and is basically in a 'bulge' so its got 3 sides of property that isn't mine after ~ 25-100 ft

Do I just wait for a dry spell and pump it up my property through 200-300' of tubing and X my fingers?


Note- there is no 'sewer' I could drain it into.
Possibly do it in stages?
Posted By: MisterA Re: Pond Rebuild Qs-> Liner v No Liner - 10/04/20 05:14 PM
Apologize if you have covered this but why do you need to inspect the liner? The pond is holding water now isn’t it? Do you know the pond depth yet?
Posted By: CityDad Re: Pond Rebuild Qs-> Liner v No Liner - 10/04/20 05:41 PM
Mister- the liner is floating and I dont know the depth/shape of the bottom.
Floating liner means water underneath it, either from a leak or water coming from below.
Posted By: Bobbss Re: Pond Rebuild Qs-> Liner v No Liner - 10/04/20 09:52 PM
Why can't you just pump it where the water flows out of the pond? Also you could probably use a large hose or hoses and siphon most of the water out and not have to watch it as much.
Posted By: MisterA Re: Pond Rebuild Qs-> Liner v No Liner - 10/05/20 01:10 AM
To me it seems like you need to get a handle on the volume you are dealing with. A 1/10 acre pond is 32,600 gallons per foot of water depth. Depending on the average depth it may not be that much water. You could pump it to its natural overflow as suggested by Bob. If for some reason that doesn’t work you have plenty of area to distribute it over depending on the volume of water. Also, if you drain the pond it will be a while, depending on rainfall before you are full again.
Posted By: gehajake Re: Pond Rebuild Qs-> Liner v No Liner - 10/05/20 08:40 PM
Siphoning it down is going to be your cheapest simplest option, as long as you only have a two or three inch stream running out of the siphon you wont hurt anything down stream and probably wont even be able to notice it, during rainy weather I'm sure there is a lot more water then that flowing away behind your pond, with a two inch line it would be days siphoning down.
Unless I'm missing something, like maybe it would run right thru somebody else's back or front yard, that might complicate things a little.
That being said, theoretically if the liner is floating it means the pond is holding water just fine beneath it, if the pond beneath it was leaking you would think the liner would be sucked down tight to the bottom. Might be able to just remove it and see what happens. Good Luck !
Posted By: MisterA Re: Pond Rebuild Qs-> Liner v No Liner - 10/05/20 09:20 PM
Agree with gehajake - it seems that if the liner is floating the ground beneath the liner is holding water. If it is possible it seems like it would be worth investigating as to why a liner was installed. The reason might be as simple as the prior folks wanted a pond with cleaner water or firmer bottom but there might have been more serious reasons. If the only reason you are buying the land is because it has the pond it seems like you need to know as much about the pond as possible. On the other hand it is usually good to own land. Enough speculation on my part - best of luck, sincerely hoping you get your pond!!
Posted By: Steve_ Re: Pond Rebuild Qs-> Liner v No Liner - 10/05/20 10:14 PM
Gehajake must've been milking a cow while writing that post.
Posted By: CityDad Re: Pond Rebuild Qs-> Liner v No Liner - 10/07/20 08:35 PM
Great input yall.

This property is as close to perfect as I can fit on my budget, and the pond is a big factor, although if I had to build a dam to build that spot that would also work. The existence of the liner is confusing since it's north georgia with clay everywhere as far as I can tell.

Next time Im there ill better scout out the spill way area. I didn't do that on my last trip. DOH

Not concerned about refilling it, there is a spring feeding it that should get it filled up in a week or three.

Can anyone link me a siphon/pump set up that i can rent or buy cheap? Alsoa good youtube video on doing it would help
Posted By: esshup Re: Pond Rebuild Qs-> Liner v No Liner - 10/11/20 04:18 AM
Here's a few places:
http://www.mountainrentalsllc.com/

http://gapartyandtoolrental.com/tool--equipment-rentals.html

[video:youtube]https://youtu.be/i8rs85SWkg8?t=143[/video]

Put enough hose on the discharge side to get the water to where you want it to go.
Posted By: gehajake Re: Pond Rebuild Qs-> Liner v No Liner - 10/12/20 01:10 AM
I have emptied or lowered several ponds very economically with 2 to 4" pvc pipe, glue together several lengths down the inside of the dam, (whatever it takes to reach close to the bottom of the pond), then a 45% elbow across the top of the dam and another 45% elbow then down the backside of the dam to a point lower then the intake end. glue a check valve on the inside end and a regular valve on the outside end and a tee with a short pipe and a threaded cap straight up in the line in the highest point on top of the dam, you can fill the whole pipe up with water from a garden hose or small pump or even a bucket thru the tee on top of the dam, then close the tee off and go to the back side of the dam and open the valve and it will start the siphon.
I will try to attach a sketch of what I am trying to describe.

Attached picture Screenshot 2020-10-11 at 7.58.00 PM.jpg
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