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GardenCadet 20-08-2006 03:21 PM

Finding a pond leak
 
After watching it loose water at a time when evaporation should have been low, i have come to the concusion that dropping water levels in my pond could be due to a small leak (caused possibly by birds). I need to find this leak and if possible fix it but i have no i dea where to start. I know roughly the area, but narrowing this down is proving difficult.

can any one suggest any tips for locating the leak please?

sean mckinney 20-08-2006 05:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GardenCadet
After watching it loose water at a time when evaporation should have been low, i have come to the concusion that dropping water levels in my pond could be due to a small leak (caused possibly by birds). I need to find this leak and if possible fix it but i have no i dea where to start. I know roughly the area, but narrowing this down is proving difficult.

can any one suggest any tips for locating the leak please?


First switch off any pumps that pump water out side the liner and see if the level drops with the pumps off. If it doesnt drop the the problem is somewhere in the course followed by the moving water.

If that is unsuccessful and the leak is not deep let the pond's level drop until stable, the leak is then just above the water line but

If you let the level drop to a stable level and still cant find a hole look for any folds that could be creating a wick, failing that add an inch of water and then dribbling in some milk around the edge of the liner, look for currents in the milky water

As a LAST resort that personally I doubt I would risk, the risk being that underlay may float out of position or if the walls are soil, the sides of the pond sight will collapse, put a hose pipe under the liner and flood the site. Once the water outside the liner is level with the pond water the liner may start to collapse and the pond level may start to rise as the liner crushes. Look for a plume of dirty water jetting into the pond.
If the liner is totally free to move as it pleases, ie non rigid and or not held in place by plant pots etc then this may not work as the liner will simple crush with no flow from the outside through the hole.
Assuming the liner is 'constrained', slow the inflow rate to a one that will just keep the 'flood water' level just above the pond level but I wouldnt allow the pond level to rise by more than an inch. If you are near the inch rise in level I'd stop the flooding and actually remove the water from outside the liner and start agian. As soon as you find the hole mark it and start sucking water out from under the liner but that is best done steadily, if you suck the water out too quickly the liner is likely to seal around the suction line and starve the suction line. If you pond walls are soil I would simultaneaously start topping up the pond and let the pond sit, full, for a couple of days to assist with stabilising the soil. After a couple of days drain the water to allow you to fix the leak

Note the risk of soil walls collapsing etc is real so this is a LAST RESORT

Brian[_14_] 25-02-2014 12:01 PM

Finding a pond leak
 
Its never being an easy task to find out the leakage point in a pond you need an expert to point out this point and the best way to repair leaky pond is to use Pondpro2000 pond repair products. http://www.pondpro2000.com/epdm-pond-liner.html

garby8265 07-02-2019 04:23 PM

This might help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhskPDxsVtc


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