+1 to Tracy's suggestion to perform experiments to estimate effectiveness. I was going to suggest the same but wanted to understand the amount to be used and how much surface area of the pond bottom so that the density of polymer could be estimated in preparing the experiment. My impression from your thoughts, esshup, is that you are contemplating use of the polymer in lieu of bentonite in sandy soil where construction techniques are similar to that of using bentonite to construct a liner.

Tracy makes a good argument that a film on the surface might be more effective than trying to integrate the polymer through a volume of sand. With experiments, one could determine the costs of different approaches and which are most effective. The long term benefits in the unique challenges you face in those sandy soils could not be determined from such short term experiments however. This something to consider as well. I think in much the same way that Snipe protects the liners he constructs with an overlay of soil ... you might also want to do the same so as to protect the liner from crayfish and such. Another thing to consider is whether you can obtain soils a reasonable distance away with sufficient clay so as to improve it for liner use with a clay dispersant (eg soda ash). Such could be mixed with sand to increase its thickness. In a case with ground water flows under a clay liner, some gradual erosion of the clay liner must also be expected.


It isn't what we don't know that gives us trouble, it's what we know that ain't so - Will Rogers