leaking pond

[rc]

I had a small pond dug out 2 years ago this September and needless to say we haven't had enough rain to fill it. It's also seeping due to sand. Now would be a good time to line it or something since it's all but dry. Any suggestions? I was wondering if a 6 mil bisquine would work, maybe covered with dirt or wash rock? Clay?

 

[MikeC]

6" of clay or Bentonite will do the trick.

I see this problem with lot's of people that hire an ignorant pond builder/contractor or try to do it themselves.

I have one neighbor that wanted his pond 8 feet deep at any cost. He dug into sand and gravel and wonders why his pond doesn't hold water??????

Ponds do not need to be over 4-5 foot deep.

He drilled a well and has a 5 HP pump pumping 24 hours just to keep it full.

 

[3MR]

You can use the sheeting or the Bentonite. Bentonite isnt expensive.

 

[rc]

There is a clay pit up the road from me where they haul to a brick kiln. I spoke to the owner of the trucks this morning and he offered to give me a couple of loads (probably for the inconvienence of his trucks passing) I figure it'll take more than that but that seems to be my cheapest bet. It's a small pond, about a 100 feet in diameter. I should be able to place and spread with the tractor bucket and blade? Ya suppose?

 

[shanbruce]

Arkansas trick. I have been told too many times to count that if a pond doesn't hold, get a couple of hogs and pin them up in it. They will root around in it and seal it, then you will have hogs to butcher.

 

[MikeC]

There is a clay pit up the road from me where they haul to a brick kiln. I spoke to the owner of the trucks this morning and he offered to give me a couple of loads (probably for the inconvienence of his trucks passing) I figure it'll take more than that but that seems to be my cheapest bet. It's a small pond, about a 100 feet in diameter. I should be able to place and spread with the tractor bucket and blade? Ya suppose?

You'll have to pack it tight. You'll need more than just an inch or so too.

Spread it and ride awhile!

 

[rc]

it's so dry now I can pump the remaining water out and take the box blade and start making laps dragging it out and up the levee's. It's just kind of a round little pond that should catch drainage from 3 sides, it just hasn't rained. I'm thinking if I can get about 4 to 6 inches of clay it might be alright. I'm thinking of running a water line into the middle and up with a fountion on the end spraying up to add water if needed.

 

[novatech]

I had a small pond dug out 2 years ago this September and needless to say we haven't had enough rain to fill it. It's also seeping due to sand. Now would be a good time to line it or something since it's all but dry. Any suggestions? I was wondering if a 6 mil bisquine would work, maybe covered with dirt or wash rock? Clay?

Mike C is right. Make sure the type of clay you use is free of sand. The Bentonite is the best, least labor intensive, and least expensive. Spread evenly on the ground aprox. 1/2 in. thick. I have never heard of it being toxic, just in case you were wondering.

 

[dun]

I've had much better success with bentonite if it's incorprated into the soil a little rather then just a solid blanket.

 

[Stepper]

I am having the same problem with a pond i had built last summer. It is about the same size of pond as yours except it is a square 100' x 100' at the waters edge when full. The USDA helped me build the pond. I thought i would have better luck with them involved due to having built so many of them.

They came out and dug a test hole before laying it out and they said i could probably get by going 6 feet deep. The dozer operator has built alot of ponds for them and was also a good friend of mine.

The pond is actually 6' deep on one side and then gets shallower as it goes up to the side that the cattle come into to drink. But while building it on the shallow side the dozer operator stopped work and discussed going any deeper because he had hit gravel. So they did not go any deeper.

During the winter the pond filled up and went over the spill way but leaked back down. On the deepest side it stays a couple feet deep with about 1' deep on the shallow side.

The USDA man came out and looked at it a couple days ago and said i need to mark the water level and when it has leaked down as low as it is going to go. I then should take a tractor and disc and make about a 10' sweep all the way round the edgs of the water. The use drill mud like they use in gas wells to cover the area i had disc. He thinks that will stop it leaking ?

What is Bentonite and where do you get it ?

 

[dun]

What is Bentonite and where do you get it ?

If I remember correctly it's a form of valcanic ash. All of the feed stores in this area carry it, ask there.

 

[CUZ]

Bentonite - I've used it on two ponds now. Didn't get it thick enough on the second pond and it leaks. I'm told that you can throw the Bentonite into the water and it will make its way to the leak. But, if your pond is about dry anyway then your better off spreading it evenly along the bottom.

It's a very fine, dry powder that expands with water. I paid about $400 for a ton (40 bags).

First, a definition, so ya'll will know what I'm talking about.
"One of life's little mysteries - stuff that happens that you have no idea why that happened or how that happened or who did it, etc etc."

Well son-of-a-gun, ya'll have just solved one of life's little mysteries for me. Years ago my best friends dad built a pond that leaked. On a day when the pond bottom was dry he spread this white powder stuff that came out of bags all around the bottom of the pond - the pond didn't leak after that. I've always wondered what that powder was. Thanks to ya'll, now I know. Ya'll are better than Perry Mason.

Cuz

 

[novatech]

I have used Bentonite to seal stock tanks, to seal and waterproof basement walls, and to stop water from traveling beneath concrete foundations. We are currently useing Bentonite on a church that was built in 1871. The entire building is made of sandstone. After many years the stone foundation is actually decomposeing due to moisture below ground in constant contact with the stone. We are sealing the stone with a layer of Bentonite. When Bentonite gets wet it will swell 15 to 18 times its dry state. I beleive that most Bentonite is mined in Wyoming. It is also an ingrediant of some drilling muds.
I was wrong earlier when I said you should apply about 1/2 inch. This is only necessary when it is tilled in. If not tilling you only need complete coverage. It is also a good idea to cover the Bentonite layer with a thin layer of soil to prevent the Bentonite layer from being disturbed as water is filling the pond.

 

[MikeC]

Bentonite doesn't work on every pond either. Sometimes your money will be wasted.

If some dumba$$ pond builder exposed a LOT of sand and gravel, then it's best bring in some clay first, THEN put down the Bentonite.

 

[Stepper]

After the bentonite exspands, does it harden like concrete ? Or does it stay a mud ?

 

[MikeC]

does it harden like concrete

No

 

[dun]

does it harden like concrete

No

It will eventually harfden some if it's gotten wet and then dried for a long time. But it takes a real looooooong time. It stays slimy under the surface. Each particl swells something like 10 or 15 times when it's wet.

 

[MikeC]

does it harden like concrete

No

It will eventually harfden some if it's gotten wet and then dried for a long time. But it takes a real looooooong time. It stays slimy under the surface. Each particl swells something like 10 or 15 times when it's wet.

Correct. A friend of mine used the sheets of Bentonite on the outside of his basement to seal the concrete blocks, then covered with dirt.

The exposed edges got hard and brittle but the damp portions stayed slimy and slick.

We/ve got some white and chalky prairie soil down here that will do almost the same thing. It's slick as snot when it gets wet.

Good for sealing ponds.

 

[novatech]

does it harden like concrete

No

It will eventually harfden some if it's gotten wet and then dried for a long time. But it takes a real looooooong time. It stays slimy under the surface. Each particl swells something like 10 or 15 times when it's wet.

Correct. A friend of mine used the sheets of Bentonite on the outside of his basement to seal the concrete blocks, then covered with dirt.

The exposed edges got hard and brittle but the damp portions stayed slimy and slick.

We/ve got some white and chalky prairie soil down here that will do almost the same thing. It's slick as snot when it gets wet.

Good for sealing ponds.

The product we use on basement walls is a flexable tar impregnated sheet (on a roll). The bentonite is used for a second line of defense. One side of this material is covered with a thin later of bentonite. Only thin layers are used against a foundation or basement wall. Due to the highly expansive nature of bentonite one could actually cave in a basement wall. A 1 in. layer would expand to approx. 15 in. The force exerted is far greater than most walls could stand. I am only pointing this out for the do it your selfer.

 

[Stepper]

I talked with the USDA man today about the best way to go about fixing my pond and he highly reccomends using hogs to do it.

So i guess i am going to give that try. I will be able to tell you from experience wether or not hogs will seal a pond here in a few months. :lol:

I guess if it does'nt work i will at least have some ham & bacon to put in the freezer ! :roll: