Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Help Pond leaks Help

I've had this problem for about five years. I've been told that it will stop as it get older. It is about 3/4 acre with a clay bottom over a sandy area. It will leak down about 1/2 inch a day. I've put in everything to help slow it down, but nothing seems to work. If I could just locate the spot or spots maybe I could slow it down. Is their a method I could use to help with this?

I'm in the same boat as you are. I have a .62 acre pond that was put in about 1 year ago, when it was dug it had several wet weather springs that were leaking into as they were digging. But they also ran into rock at the bottom and I beleive it is most likly leaking along the rock shelf under the dam. I have found an area behind the dam about 50ft that has water trickling.

It also looses 1/2 inch a day. And with my calculations, for my size pond that is about 5.8 gallons per minute, which i think would be close to the trickle I see below the dam.

Now I have thought of doing some of the things you have done with placing bentonite in areas where I think it is leaking, but have not yet made that leap. For now I will live with it, unless I come arcoss some free bentonite or free dozer work.

I saw an ad in the new PB Magazine from a company that claims to fix leaks. There was a picture showing them putting something in the water. Might look it up and ask questions.

Dave, are you talking about ESS-13 I not sure exactly what it's called, but I called the company and they said they could stop my leaking by pooring in a solution that would also kill the fish.

They wanted $6,000 for my .62 acre pond. They said it would be cheaper than draining it and packing with clay.

I told them that I didn't know what part of the country they were from but I could most deffinitly redo my pond for half that cost probably even 1/3 that cost.

Yeah, that sounds awfully high.

I've seen seepages in ponds built in good clay
soils. The leaks are usually seen as wet areas
below the dam, and I was of the assumption that
the seepage occurred at grade level where vegetation was not adequately removed. However,
I'm now thinking that at least 70% of the leaks
occur in the upper 2 feet of dam area below the
permament water line. The soils there are less compacted and certainly the dam has less soil
mass as it nears the crown. The water seeps through, and without proper coring, gravitates
downward to grade level on the dam backside.
Maybe sodium bentonite worked into the soil in
the mentioned area could be a viable fix.
However, if seep rates below the first couple
of feet don't lessen or the soils are too
permeable, this is all just so much conjecture.

squeeky,

I think that makes a lot of sense. I recently was plagued with leaks in an old dam that were caused by a combination of animals (beavers and/or nutria) and tree roots. The leaks manifested themselves at the base of the dam on the backside, but repeated attempts to repack those areas failed to stop the leaks. Finally, I decided to go up to near the top of the dam and dig out all the way down to the base...it was there that I found the real source for the leaks (cavities left by animals and tree roots pulling water from the pond). The water was simply gravitating down to the base level and exiting there. After digging that out and repacking with clay, problem solved.

I think tree roots cause much more problems than we realize. These were trees that were not on the dam but behind it at the base. They had sent roots well into the dam to those cavities and were pulling water out. Not only are trees on the dam problematic, but trees near the base also can cause problems....especially when coupled with animals burrowing.

That's an interesting thought.

That will be something to consider when investigating my leaking issue. I think many people probably assume that the leak is at the base of the dam due to the increased water pressure.