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FAQs on Pond Repair: Seepage... Slow
Leaks
Related Articles: Pond
Repair Work, Liners for
Ponds,
Related FAQs: Water
Feature Repairs 1, Water Feature Repairs
2, Water Feature Repairs
3, More specifically: Leaks/Leaking, Earthen Pond Repairs, Waterfall Repairs, Electrical Problems, Fountain Repairs, Faux Rock Repairs, Crack Repairs... & Foundation Coatings, Liner Pond Repairs, Liners in Pond
Construction,
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Aquatic Gardens
Ponds, Streams, Waterfalls
& Fountains:
Volume 1. Design & Construction
Volume 2. Maintenance, Stocking, Examples
V. 1
Print and
eBook on Amazon
V. 2
Print and
eBook on Amazon
by Robert (Bob) Fenner |
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Water feature water basin seeping 6/3/14
Hello Wet Web Media!
<Howsit Tom?>
I have a waterfall feature with a water basin that holds 50
gallons of water or so. It was built 10 years ago
or so and works fine, but now the
sealer/lining is seeping to where I have to keep
refilling the water once or
twice a week. In reading your posts, my plan is to
buy the Henry 4.75-Gal. 107 Asphalt Emulsion and
spread that all over the area where water stands.
Will that work?
<May be... Allow it (the emulsion) to dry a few days... IF this doesn't "do
it"; I'd look to pouring a rather liquid colored concrete slurry in the
nooks and crannies of the fall "trough". You've read through WWM re
waterfall repair I hope/trust. Bob Fenner>
Thanks!
Tom
Re: Water feature water basin seeping 6/4/14
Thanks for the quick response. It¹s not the waterfall portion that is the
problem. It¹s really a water wall that drips into a manageable basin,
almost like a concrete tub and that
concrete tub (which has a decomposing thick
garbage bag-like liner) is the problem. I also saw you mention
Thoroseal. Is that better for my needs than the
Henry 4.75-Gal. 107 Asphalt Emulsion?
Thanks again!
Tom
<Different application... won't likely adhere to PE. BobF>
Wicking EDPM liner 5/15/14
Aloha Bob (or whoever reads this),
<Howsit Tor?>
I have an above ground fountain that we put in as the centerpiece of a
garden of raised beds. Construction is 24" high, 9' diameter ring
of vertical Ipe 1x6 held with three hurricane
strap bands. Within that is an EDPM liner with
concrete bottom on top of liner. It's been up for a
while and it looks as elegant as we hoped.
I went around and pleated the liner at each joint in the Ipe (an
elegant way to deal with the four foot larger circle of liner
than pond diameter), but we are having trouble
with small rivulets coming up an inch or more,
and working through the pleats to come down outside the
fountain.
<Ah yes... sp3 hybridized... water... capillating if you will>
The fountain has been going down 1-2"/week, but we've just
been using plumbing strap around the edge to hold the liner in
place, and it seems to make the rivulets more
numerous, if not slightly bigger as well.
I'm thinking towards sealing the pleats down with something, but it
would be really nice to have something that could be injected
into the wet pleat, rather than having to take
the band off to dry out the pleats. Any
suggestions as to the best method of sealing this?
<Mmm; I would take the water out, dry thoroughly. It's hard enough to
get anything to stick to EPDM...>
Thank you,
Tor
<Do write back re your experience/s please. Bob Fenner>
Re: Wicking EDPM liner 5/16/14
Aloha Bob,
Thanks for your reply.
<Welcome Tor>
> I'm thinking towards sealing the pleats down with something, but it
> would be really nice to have something that could be injected into
> the wet pleat, rather than having to take the band off to dry out
> the pleats. Any suggestions as to the best method of sealing this?
> <Mmm; I would take the water out, dry thoroughly. It's hard enough
> to get anything to stick to EPDM...>
I kind of thought as much. Do you think there is a silicone or other
caulk that would work, or would I be better off to open the
pleat, put a piece of seam tape over the
entire open width, and close the tape back on
itself?
<Yes; the tape is the very best possibility... As stated previously,
little sticks/welds to EPDM directly>
It is at least outside, but even with Ipe not having water
dripping down is a good thing.
Thanks,
Tor
<Welcome. Bob Fenner>
Stream over wet ground
Greetings
<Hello>
I read over the FAQs on your site but did not find an answer to my
unique problem.
We have built a stream and series of small ponds on a area measuring
approximately 22 ft x 22 ft. It looks great, but the problem is that it
is built over wet ground. When we were in the construction phase we
would be digging the stream bed and water would bubble up from
underground.
<Oh oh>
I tried to install a drainage system, but now find that water is
collecting beneath the ponds and when we turned it off to repair a leak
we also found that ground water leaked into the ponds themselves.
<Yikes...>
We are considering cementing the entire thing in to be sure we have a
closed system and leaving the ground water to find drainage as it would
have naturally, but wanted to get an expert's opinion.
What do you think?
<Best to do what you state... if at all possible, bringing
up/raising the liner above grade... attaching to stakes, the new
concrete berm... See WWM re: http://wetwebmedia.com/PondSubWebIndex/linerspdconst.htm
and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>
Thanks
re: Stream over wet ground 9/7/11
Thanks so much for your prompt reply.
<Yes>
Is there any other material other than cement that would also work?
<?Yes... liner over what you have in place... See where you've
been referred previously. BobF>
Leaking pond - am I hurting my fish refilling so often?
8/28/05 Hi, <Hello there> We've cleaned out and restocked
a pond in our new house. It's approx. 10feet by 5feet,
and 3feet deep. It has a top level which waterfalls down to the larger
lower level. We've put in a pump for the waterfall and a filter,
loads of plants and have 2 happy little goldfish. Only problem is we
have a slow leak in the liner somewhere as the outer wall
(stone and mortar) is constantly wet and we're losing 3 - 4 inches
a week. <Mmm... perhaps capillatory in nature... hard to
fix...> We've tried emptying the pond and found a tiny hole,
which we repaired with a cycle repair kit on the advice of our
local water centre. But either that didn't work or
there's more holes! <Or just a "damp" area twixt the
liner and up...> Anyway, time is short at the mo due to work, so
we've just been refilling every few days and as
there's no time to reline it this year, that's our
only option - but is it harming my fish????? <Mmm, not
likely... in fact, replacing 3-4 inches per week of depth in a volume
of this size is likely very helpful> Very quick 2nd question, sorry
- one of my goldfish seems to chase the other smaller one a
lot. <Happens> At first I thought they were playing, but today
I noticed light patches on the rear sides of the one
that's being chased, where the nose of the chaser rubs
his skin. Is this normal behaviour, are they fighting,
playing or even mating??? <Mostly the latter, the middle as
practice... I would add a few more goldfish to diffuse the aggression
here> Thanks, Allison Franklin (UK novice pond keeper) <Welcome,
Bob Fenner, old-timer>
| Seeping pond help! Last year we dug this part
of the pond and had a liner in it. This year we added to
the size of the pond, removed the liner, and concreted the whole
thing. <I wish, and I bet you'll agree, that you'd just
added to the existing liner rather than remove it... This is the
proscribed method... and what we (our businesses used to fabricate
liners for this purpose, install them...> used to do.>
The small part is app. 3--3 1/2 feet deep. I
let the concrete cure, then I have put 2 thick coats of a masonry
waterproofing on, let cure for the recommended 2
weeks. I fill up this part, which in turn flows over the
side rocks into the larger part. When this is filled
(the small part), within 11-12 hours, the water has seeped down to
about 1 foot in the bottom. I can not find any active
leaks and do not know where the water is going. As you can see the
pond is dug in red clay as I live in East Texas where this type of
soil is pretty much predominant. <I'll trade with you for
our "soil" here in this part of Southern California...
which is about 1/3 clay, 1/3 boulders... and all back-breaking to
dig in... The leak problem... I would start with pressure-testing
your plumbing. Do you know how to do this? It might be more
economical to hire someone (likely in the swimming pool plumbing
biz) rather than buying your own test gear... Next, and maybe with
the same folks help, add a dye to the water, fill up the system and
use a colorimeter or more fancy spectrophotometer to try and detect
where the water is exiting... Do check around boulders that may
penetrate the apparent basins here (does the water slow or stop
seeping at some level?). At the very worst, do look into (posted on
www.WetWebMedia.com under the Pond Index/Section) how to effect a
repair of your current system with the placement, yes, of a liner
over the existing work. Good hunting! Bob Fenner> |
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Water Seepage Stops Pond! >Dear crew, >>Dear
Holden. >I have a started digging a pond that is 13' by
8'. >>Wow, all by yourself? My back couldn't let me
do that! >I dug to 30" with no problems, so I proceeded to dig
to 36". >>Cool. >Then I went to bed, I came back
out the next morning to find that the bottom 6" of the pond were
filled with ground water. >>Uh oh.. now there's a
problem I've never seen out here! (So Cal) >What can I do to fix
this? I pumped it out, but I know it will fill again.
>>That's a tough one, I think it depends on how fast it
refills. >Can I just pump it out and then put the liner in and fill
it fast so that the water just pushes it down? >>That
sounds like an idea that might work, but I'd consult an geological
engineer or similar to know for sure. >Can I create a new bottom of
concrete? >>I wouldn't place anything permanent like
that without talking to someone. How about calling a few local general
contractors? >Pea gravel? >>That could work well as a
"sink" of sorts, but again, I'd strongly suggest talking
to someone in your area who's likely done similar work. There may
even be code issues you should be aware of because of the ground water
being so high. >Any ideas are appreciated. Thanks,
Holden >>Sorry I can't be more definitive for you,
Holden, but I wouldn't feel right trying to give you an answer that
would really be a guess. Marina
Leaking Pond Hello, I put in a backyard pond a few months ago
and have since been experiencing a leaking problem. The pond will leak
water down to 3 3/4" and then stop. I have looked around the pond
edge and seen nothing. I read to trying pouring milk along the edge to
find the leak. . . nothing. I am now stumped. I know that there is a
leak, but cant find where. The liner is 40mil EPDM rubber. Any
suggestions???? <Yes... and bear with me, as this may sound strange
(now). What you may well be experiencing is a capillation phenomenon
here. The outer edge of the liner can "wick" out this much
water by "drawing it up" out of the system due to a
continuous wet surface between the outside part of the liner and the
part inside/making up the pond. Do check around the edge and drain any
water puddling along there, even very moist landscape should be moved
away from the liner edge. Bob Fenner> Asa Kelly
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Aquatic Gardens
Ponds, Streams, Waterfalls
& Fountains:
Volume 1. Design & Construction
Volume 2. Maintenance, Stocking, Examples
V. 1
Print and
eBook on Amazon
V. 2
Print and
eBook on Amazon
by Robert (Bob) Fenner |
|
