Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Soilfloc Longevity - Ponds with Fluctuating Levels

Does Soilfloc lose its effectiveness if it is subject to dehydration after initially effectively sealing a pond?

Does the polymer still retain water after the sealed pond sides and bottom are exposed to air? Alternatively, does it effectively re-hydrate after the water level in the pond returns to full pool?

I can think of two examples where this would be important.

1.) In a sealed pond that is subject to severe water level fluctuations over the course of a few years.

2.) In a forage pond that is periodically drained and allowed to fully dry.

Thanks for any assistance,
FishinRod

Yes, polymers rehydrate, but I always encourage my customers to maintain water levels to the best of their ability. Ideally through supplemental irrigation - but rain dances, ritual sacrifice, burnt offerings, don't hurt, either. I don't want polymers drying and rehydrating in a sidewall leak if I can avoid it as this just increases risk of seepage. Thankfully 95% of leaks or in dam or main basin, sidewall leaks are uncommon.

I've turned down dozens of projects like forage or grow cells because I haven't been able to test efficacy of polymer through process of drying and rehydrating. But bear in mind most cells like this already have supplemental irrigation sources so leaks don't pose much of a problem, operating more as a nuisance. I have 3 forage ponds that seep .25" daily which I could easily treat, just haven't gotten around to the experiment.

Hope this helps. My consulting time is free to my Pond Boss family, and always will be. Feel free to reach out anytime.

tj@hudlandmgmt.com

TJ, thanks for that comprehensive response! You hit exactly upon the problems I was trying to address.

I think my little forage pond cells are going to seal well based on the quality of the soil material available. However, I wanted to save time/money by just building them to the "good" expected seal rating, rather than the "perfect" seal rating.

If "good" turned out to be a little leaky, then I was going to hit the leaky cell with a Soilfloc treatment.

P.S. I am not sure exactly to what degree the saturated clay in the bank will actually dry out over the winter. I expect there is a chance that the polymer moisture content might be maintained by minimal amounts of water being drawn from the deeper saturated clay in the bank.

P.P.S. TJ, if I do get an order of Soilfloc from you to treat a leaking main pond in the future, then I am more than happy to purchase a little extra and also treat a leaky forage cell to your specifications. I can keep track of any change in the leakage rates over multiple fill/drain cycles and give you one more data point for your long term Soilfloc experiments.

If supplemental irrigation is available for your forage cells I wouldn't worry about a bit of seepage since they're small/shallow enough typically to top off every couple weeks without much effort/expense. In other words, don't lose sleep on seeping forage ponds, provided leak rates are reasonable. One can burn $ quickly chasing minor leaks - I encourage many to live with minor seepage rates and reinvest their capital into fun stuff like docks, habitat, forage, tractor implements, zip lines, etc.

What is minor seepage? That determination is dependent on several factors - primary ones are geography [as it correlates to annual precipitation] and watershed size. 1/3" daily vertical water loss in West Texas with 20" annual precipitation and high evaporation rates might be worth chasing, while 1/3" loss in AL with 40-50" annual precipitation I'll typically encourage client to invest elsewhere on more "fun" projects [see above]. Same consideration for watershed size...I cover all this through the [sometimes many] hours of consulting before articulating any recommendations. It's a complex problem that requires experience [I've worked on nearly 1,000 projects directly/indirectly] and weighing multiple factors before determining a strategy. Often the strategy is to live with minor seepage, but the consult process takes time and is reliant on empirical data collected by pond manager and multiple additional factors. In the end I really enjoy the consult process as I'm either saving someone significant $ chasing a minor problem, or we're reducing water loss with a polymer treatment. Extending my PB family by making new friends all over the country is a major bonus, too. Win, win, win.

I work with several pond construction pros nationwide that keep polymer on hand so whenever they encounter suspect conditions or material that causes concern [springs, sand, gravel, rock, low plasticity clay, etc.] they will install a layer of polymer, till, compact, then follow with 4-6" clay lifts compacted to 12-24". The polymer serves as an affordable insurance policy and performs reliably in this role during construction or rehab. It's significantly cheaper to build a pond correctly than endure the cost of a rehab project down the line. It's not uncommon for a $10,000 pond [original construction cost] to carry a $50,000+ rehab price tag. I experience this every week - soul crushing.

This is where the polymer really shines.....we can spot treat a fully hydrated pond for $1-2k to reduce seepage with a couple hours of labor with zero negative impact to the fishery and save tens of thousands for the pond owner vs. rehab project which can take weeks or months to complete [weather, equipment and contractor ability dependent]. At this point I've seen it all break down to some degree. Reliable pond pros are VERY hard to find.

Rod, I recall we've already discussed your forage cell plans - but feel free to reach out again if you want to discuss strategy as I've constructed several of these over the past 10 years. If you'd like to experiment with a polymer treatment my recommendation would be to install BENEATH the clay liner [as described above] and we can see how it responds to rehydration following draining and collection efforts in the Spring. We would be breaking new scientific ground together and helping lots of folks in the process. As a volunteer here I'm happy to help my Pond Boss forum family in any way I can.

tj@hudlandmgmt.com

The stuff does re-hydrate (based on a spill I had on the side of the dam), but I cannot imagine the integrity of a pond seal would be as good after multiple cycles. When it dries, it shrinks a lot, and wet again, expands a lot. The mechanical "stirring" of soils may be a problem in the long run, exposing even more leak potential, but this is a guess. This guess is slightly educated by observing that and freeze cycles of soils pretty much doing the same thing.

For a pond that must be drained and serviced often, it would be best to put a liner in despite the higher costs.

liquidsquid, thanks for the additional input.

I think I will just have to run it as an experiment. Maybe drain them in the fall, and then put 4" of water in the bottom right before the big chill arrives to avoid dehydration cracking and frost heaving.

No great loss if they are leaky in the subsequent spring. I will find out if there is a problem before any fish are going in. Might have to drive around in the tractor a few passes with a load in the FEL and an implement up in the air on the back!