Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Soil questions New pond in Texas leaking

Hello everyone, it’s been a while since I have been on this website but always get good advice when I come here. However I need a little more advice on pond problem that I have now.
The good news; right know after the Texas drought my new pond has water in it however the bad news is it is leaking.

Any advices on how to go about fixing this problem?

Does anyone know of any company in central Texas (temple, TX area) that works with bentonite?

Any info will help

Thank You

Hello Texcowboy4x4 thanks for posting again! Hang on for some expert input.

If you don't mind me asking, how do you know it's leaking? I had one dug a few months ago and it seems to go up and down quite a bit. Just curious.

Tex, adding bentonite to an existing water hole, once it's holding some water, is called "sprinkling". I've personally only heard of one successful application. I find that the best cure is to identify the source of the leak and correct the situation by applying 2 ft. of well compacted clay to that leak.

Jason, hard to tell from what you're saying. New ponds wick water back into the surrounding soils. If it's wicking, it should stop taking water (after a while).

Dave I have used sprinkling successfully twice. Both times it involved a limited sand vein. I have also used a pipe method to place the bentonite at a specific location. In all 3 cases the leak pulled the bentonite into the problem areas and they stopped. These were not , IMO , serious leaks like one has with fractured rocks or large porous sand seams or overall bad dirt. We used drilling mud (aqua-gel) which contains bentonite.

Eric, I've tried both. Unsuccessfully.

Now I have heard of one other person who has done it right. How do you get that snot out of the pipe and where you want it?

A drum to mix it in and 8 inch PVC pipe and a trash pump

Have you found a good way to mix it up in a drum? Do you use a trolling motor or electric drill w/ paint stirrer or have you found a better way?

Not really . Dump some in - add water - stir with a boat paddle - bucket to the pipe and wash down with the trash pump. A slow and difficult process. Your methods sound better. With a mud pump ( like on a drilling rig) you could do it all in one process.

Thanks for the info. To answer the one question i can tell the pond is leaking because water is bubbling up from the ground from behind the dam.

Does anyone know what the best way to find leak or leaks on the water side of the dam?

Thanks again

Any chance you hit a spring?