Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Soil questions Any pond builders in Oklahoma?

Just thought I would see if there are any pond builders close to Tulsa, Oklahoma. I need to get a second opinion before I attempt to fix a leak ....and this is the second time around.

How big is the pond? How fast is it leaking? I need some history on the first time around.
Otto

It is about 3/4 acre in size and went from leaking almost 1 inch per day when full down to about 1/2 inch now ( 1 foot low). The leak appears at the toe of the dam.

Last summer the pond was drained and relined with clay. Before the reconstruction, the daily loss was about the same as now and the leak appeared in the same location. The only difference that I can see between now and then is that the pond doesn't start leaking until the water is at a higher level now.

I didn't notice any leak this year until the pond was about 3 foot from being full and then it only got worse as the water level got higher until it finally reached the overflow pipe.

Last year (before the reconstruction), I saw the same leak but at a lower water level if that makes any sense.

Of all the questions that come to the office water loss is the most common. There is no easy solution and sometimes a water level of a pond will never stay full. Some people end up drilling a water well others will put a liner in, When land was cheep I told people it would be cheaper to buy land that had better material. That is probably not correct at today's land prices.

3/4 acre 1 inch deep has about 20,000 gallons. Do you see that much water at the toe of the dam over a 24 hour period.

All of the water may not be passing under the dam, it may be soaking into the ground.

The more water in a pond the heaver it is and the faster it will disappear, so actually it makes sense that water at a lower level will not drain out as fast.

The book says you need 2 feet of compacted clay if the water is ten feet deep.

IF you have good clay on your property it is a good idea to look at reworking the pond.

One last question. will all of the water drain out of the pond?

You sure got that right....there is no easy solution.

It is hard to tell exactly how much water is at the toe of the dam. One thing that does help is that the water that appears at the toe of the dam actually funnels down into a ditch and then into a drainage pipe that goes under a driveway. It is at this point you can see the volume of water. I've tried to calculate it by using the corrugated pipe diameter and depth/width of stream in the pipe and get about 14,000 gallons per day...and that number should be in the ballpark.

I'm not totally sure that the water is passing under the dam. It may be going trough it or even up and over the crest. It is so hard to tell. The only thing I know for a fact is where the water exits the dam and that is a wide enough area that you can't visually see the water flowing.

Yes, there is plenty of clay here. I can't even imagine draining it and having it reconstructed but that may be my only option. I've considered putting in a french drain on the toe of the dam to keep the water below ground until it gets to the drainage pipe but the problem will still be there. And then I think...over time it may fix it's self.

No, I don't believe all the water will drain out. I'm pretty sure that once it drops about 3 feet from where it is at now it will stop leaking completely. I'm basing that assumption on where the water level was before the spring rains this year and the fact that it was showing no signs of leaking then.

I'm trying to weigh all my options again as I really don't want to drain it again....that is a big mess. I've actually considering lowering the drain pipe 3 feet to keep the pond level low so the leak doesn't occur.

Cheezy

Just to see what is gong on for sure, consider the water level to be 3 feet lower that it is now. DONT MOVE THE PIPE YET. Lets see if the water will hold at that elevation.

OTTO

Good point. I will wait and see what happens as the water level goes down. It will be a while as we got 2.5 inches of rain last night and it is just about full again. It may not be until the summer when the water level gets low enough to find out for sure.