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Do not worry about repeating your self---If you find the CURE everyone will need to know.

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I found bentonite powder in 50 lb bags for 5.90 per bag. bought all but 4 bags (1500 lb) saturday. it was purchased at Cherokee Farmers COOP in Centre, AL. They said they will have more this week in the amount of 2000 lbs.

I spread it most on banks and some in water and sprayed 6 gallon db100 on banks and in water. will update success notes thread on progress in a few days .

sure hope it slows my leak!!


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keep us posted Thanks

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results on lining my pond bottom with 2 ft of good clay is that the pond holds well now (after dropping 6ft or so) and pond evaporation is finally the same as in insulated comparison bucket for test. i am now down to a level where the water is held by the new bottom thus the similar evaporation. in the next month or so i will proceed to put a 2 to 3' wide core in my dam face that will extend app. 3' below the bottom of the pond-- i will use similar good clay and mix in some db200. then will rake in some db200 + kitty litter mix between the water level in pond and the new core (app. 2 to 3') simply as a precaution or added benefit. good luck to all --will continue to post any results or problems as they develop. as i haven't seen any definite results from DB products posted i will do this basic pond repair with some assist from the db products.

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GA, you may want to extend the clay on the face all the way to the top of the dam. I have a spot about 8 feet long that was raised and couldn't extend the clay in that area only. Now it is collapsing were the water seep through.



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ga pond rookie
You can change your name from rookie to expert.

Thanks for keeping us posted.

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Bought a bag of the red Walmart Special kitty litter last night ($2.78/bag in Arkansas)to experiment with. The "ingredient" listing just includes "Ground Clay". Elsewhere on the bag is verbiage saying "All Natural" and "Fragrance Free and Highly Absorbant". There is no manufacturer listed on the bag, just says "Marketed by Wal-Mart".

I soaked some of the product in water overnight to see what it would do. Its been 24 hours now, and there is no visible swelling of the individual granuals and many of granules are still hard. The stuff wouldn't roll into any kind of a decent thread. I'm thinking this stuff has to be calcium bentonite or some other kind of less active clay. The Benseal (Sodium Bentonite) we use for drilling at work swells visibly and softens up very quicky.

While this stuff may have some ability to decrease the permeability of a pond, I don't believe it is going to swell enough to seal up leaks the way sodium bentonite has the potential to do.

Anybody else experimented with the stuff lately?? Definitely not intending to dispute the information provided by the original poster, SoSauty, as there very well could be different sources of clay used regionally for the product or the source could have changed since 2006. Just curious if anybody else has tried using this stuff as a cheap source of bentonite lately and what their experiences may be??

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I might also add that the kitty litter acted very similar to some Oil-Dri floor absorbant that I also experimented with. The Oil-dri will last through several rains on a driveway without swelling noticably or softening up the way Benseal or Bentonite chips would. They must be a similar type of very porous but relatively unreactive variety of clay.

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otto,rainman,and all--i surely am no expert as would not be in the mess i'm in with my pond if i were. with the floods in ga. my pond is full to the brim and will not be able to attempt pond fix until next summer when it drops low again---thus i have to store my kitty litter and pond sealer db-200 until next summer. if anyone has any luck with either of the above please post. i still plan on digging a new mini-core and using red ga. clay in it to try and solve the main problem--my pond sure does look pretty when it's full--and my bluegill seem to be having a wonderful time. like an old fisherman friend of mine wrote in one of his books to me "he never caught much fish but always ate well"---my bluegill seem to take after me---they are eating me out of house and home. i can't believe they grow that much in one year. thanks all----i will check in again soon.

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GPR, good to hear your pond is full and fish doing well.
As far as positive results with DB100 it reduced the leak in my dam about 70%, but it hasn't reduced it anymore than that, even after putting in the last 1 1/2 gallons of product.
The product definitely does have merit but I guess the leak in my dam is too large for it to totally stop, or maybe more than 6 gallons is required to stop it.
I'll wait till spring and see how things are and maybe add more of the product, the real fix is too expensive right now but might be the only way to go when I can save up the funds.
I remember someone posting that they were going to have an improved product, has anyone heard anything?


Last edited by adirondack pond; 10/17/09 09:26 PM.


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Hey guys,
This link may shed some light on the Kitty Litter question.

http://pubs.acs.org/cen/whatstuff/stuff/8217kitty.html

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Some more on kitty litter. If part of the manufacturing process is drying the product by firing it. Wouldn't it stand to reason the clay will stay hard and still be able to absorb moisture?

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 Originally Posted By: hawgtusks
Bought a bag of the red Walmart Special kitty litter last night ($2.78/bag in Arkansas)to experiment with. The "ingredient" listing just includes "Ground Clay". Elsewhere on the bag is verbiage saying "All Natural" and "Fragrance Free and Highly Absorbant". There is no manufacturer listed on the bag, just says "Marketed by Wal-Mart".

I soaked some of the product in water overnight to see what it would do. Its been 24 hours now, and there is no visible swelling of the individual granuals and many of granules are still hard. The stuff wouldn't roll into any kind of a decent thread. I'm thinking this stuff has to be calcium bentonite or some other kind of less active clay. The Benseal (Sodium Bentonite) we use for drilling at work swells visibly and softens up very quicky.

While this stuff may have some ability to decrease the permeability of a pond, I don't believe it is going to swell enough to seal up leaks the way sodium bentonite has the potential to do.

Anybody else experimented with the stuff lately?? Definitely not intending to dispute the information provided by the original poster, SoSauty, as there very well could be different sources of clay used regionally for the product or the source could have changed since 2006. Just curious if anybody else has tried using this stuff as a cheap source of bentonite lately and what their experiences may be??




Hawg, was the litter yo bought the "clumping" type? I wonder if that would explain your litter not softening..........



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No, it was just the plain litter, not the clumping type.
The clumping kind is more expensive than just buying the 100% bentonite from a farmer's coop or drilling supply company.

It was suggested on here a day or two ago that maybe the firing process used in the litter manufacturing hardens the clay, making it more porous, but reducing its swelling potential. I think that guy may be right.



Last edited by hawgtusks; 10/19/09 05:55 PM.
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well we may not be pond experts but we are quickly becoming experts on kitty litter---very interesting article JMC posted above---i have some db200 and walmart special kitty so i may try a couple of buckets --one plain litter and one db200+kitty litter about 1:10 (suggestions?) and water--then see what it does after 1 day, 1 week, 2 weeks. i would think even "fired" kitty litter would soften over enough time under water may not though as clay pots lasted a long time but i would doubt kitty litter would "fired" to that extent. still not sure if i'll use it or not---if i have to dig red ga. clay and use it then i may as well use it instead of kitty litter/bentonite. thanks all.

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Anyone got a friend in India? \:\) They got a huge mine there. I wonder if they'd ship bulk if there was enough people interested.

>>Ashapura Exports Pvt. Ltd.<<

There's also an US Company, American Colloidal Company, and they do bulk ordering.


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What do you need that for? You have alot of cats?


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the thought on kitty litter was to use it as inexpensive type of bentonite---after putting some in a bucket and wetting and trying to mold it--it does not appear to be very good sealer material---i also put small amount 1/4 teaspoon of db200 in 16oz cup with 1/2 inch water and let sit for a day--that small amount of db200 formed about 1/8" of slime across bottom of cup so i have high hopes for it's sealing/swelling abilities--as mentioned before db200 does get extremely slippery when wet so i plan on when i use it to sandwich it between two layers of red clay. i am presently running an experiment on red clay/db200/red clay vs. red clay/db200+kitty litter/redclay to see if any difference in seepage at all---i will post the results here as well as describe what i am doing after i get a weeks results. i plan on attempting work on pond dam in late august--was planning on repair mid sept last year but got too much rain so will wait till pond is lowest in august and then try so i don't lose all my fish by draining again. my 2nd contractor lined the bottom of the pond with about 2ft red clay but did not line the dam face (which i regret not requiring at least 1/2 of it to be lined as well). will keep pond boss readers posted. otto keep an eye out on this thread please--as per our previous conversations last year i am now leaning towards trying to tie into the bottom pond liner with more lining the face of the dam rather than my original thoughs of a re-core. the bottom liner appears to have greatly improved things just i think it was not taken up the dam high enough. thanks all

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