I'm working on a leak in my pond (finally). I understand that volclay
may be used to plug the hole. Advice? Source? Problems?
Thanks.
Pete

Yes it can...is the leak large or just a seep? If its a seep you maya
be better off with a powder form if the water is not too deep......If
you know where the leak is at, or at least a half a$$ed idea granular
or pelleted form would work better in deeper water.......

Once you appy it, it may take a couple or three days until it stops it
up. Sometimes having a decent flow is better than a seep when usiing
bentonite, as it pulls it into place better, than a seep does. I just
fixed a seep on my spillway and also hade my entire pond relined with
sodium bentonite......

Do you have a source for it? You can get granular or Pellet form from
CETCO.......its product number Volclay CG-50 This is perhaps the best
stuff to use overall.....about $10.00 per 50# bag

Depending on your soil type the application rate will vary.
Normally sandy soils you would apply it at 8 to 10 pounds sq ft/
Silty soils 4 to 8 lbs per sq ft and clay is 2 to 4 pounds per sq ft.

The CG-50 is granular in composition. There is a CP-200 which is
powdered and CC-8 which is a crumble form.
Powderd type is harder to work with as it floats and blows n the
slightest breeze, but if you make a barrier to contain it when you
want it to sink it works fine.......

CETCO phone number is 1-847-818-7965
Ask for Joe Marzullo and have him send you an info pack and he can
also provide a source in your area for any of these products.......

A pond is much easier to seal if it is drained and allowed to dry,
apply the bentonite and work it according to specifications of the
type you use, and then it needs to be compacted and kept damp and then
filled imediately so it does not dry and crack. Repairing a pond which
can not be drained is much harder to do, especially if you do not have
a clue where the leak is at, but it is still doable.been there done
that already on my pond as well as others.

Another method to use is the powder form, make a slurry in a drum, and
use a bucket to pour it into place. That way it will not float and
you do not need a floating barrier to retain it over the leaking area.
It will sink right to the bottom and start working to plug up the
leak..

They also have large blocks of dye in solid form, that can be
suspended from a float and you can watch the current flow to help pin
point the leak as well......CETCO has a source for these dye blocks as
well. About 4 or 5 bucks each

Lots of luck


On 29 Apr 2005 12:48:15 -0700, wrote:

===I'm working on a leak in my pond (finally). I understand that volclay
===may be used to plug the hole. Advice? Source? Problems?
===Thanks.
===Pete


==============================================
Put some color in your cheeks...garden naked!

Are you talking about sodium bentonite? I love the stuff. Haven't used it for a leak- but I have it around my waterfall and also rebuilt an edge with it. There are a few sites about sodium bentonite and also the product bentomat. This is sodium bentonite woven with fabric- they use it to line landfills and huge ponds. Haven't found a supplier though. Tidy Cat unscented clumping cat litter is 100% sodium bentonite.

The average person would have to get a second mortgage on their house
to buy just one roll of the bentonite matting. Its high dollar. Yes it
does get cheaper the more you buy, but to get to that point you would
have a humongus pond, or would that be lake.. Bentonite overall is
cheap to buy, but that does not apply to the mat by any means. I had
talked to a company abaout it, and they basically did not recomend it
for a typical pond, especially if anything got planted in it, and it
also requires a lot of care and proper preparations before it can be
put in place. Its more suited to waterproofing subgrade walls etc, and
making contained lagoons or catch basins or prevent l;eeching of stuff
out of these basins etc........


On Sat, 30 Apr 2005 00:37:42 +0000, Koitoy
wrote:

===
Wrote:
=== I'm working on a leak in my pond (finally). I understand that volclay
=== may be used to plug the hole. Advice? Source? Problems?
=== Thanks.
=== Pete
===
===Are you talking about sodium bentonite? I love the stuff. Haven't
===used it for a leak- but I have it around my waterfall and also rebuilt
===an edge with it. There are a few sites about sodium bentonite and also
===the product bentomat. This is sodium bentonite woven with fabric- they
===use it to line landfills and huge ponds. Haven't found a supplier
===though. Tidy Cat unscented clumping cat litter is 100% sodium
===bentonite.


==============================================
Put some color in your cheeks...garden naked!

[quote=~Roy~]The average person would have to get a second mortgage on their house
to buy just one roll of the bentonite matting. Its high dollar. Yes it
does get cheaper the more you buy, but to get to that point you would
have a humongus pond, or would that be lake.. Bentonite overall is
cheap to buy, but that does not apply to the mat by any means. I had
talked to a company abaout it, and they basically did not recomend it
for a typical pond, especially if anything got planted in it, and it
also requires a lot of care and proper preparations before it can be
put in place. Its more suited to waterproofing subgrade walls etc, and
making contained lagoons or catch basins or prevent l;eeching of stuff
out of these basins etc........


I know..sigh.....but doesn't that stuff sound so cool? Resists tree roots, tunnelling animals. The resources I have viewed didn't elaborate about a lot of prep work. I learned about 3 different methods for the granular sodium bentonite, but the bentamap reference made it look like a piece of cake. What are some the the preparations needed? Heck, one day I might win the lottery. But then again I might pick a better climate and get me one of those cement pools. lol

Thanks for the info. Just what I needed. Pete
Koitoy wrote:
Wrote:
I'm working on a leak in my pond (finally). I understand that
volclay
may be used to plug the hole. Advice? Source? Problems?
Thanks.
Pete

Are you talking about sodium bentonite? I love the stuff. Haven't
used it for a leak- but I have it around my waterfall and also
rebuilt
an edge with it. There are a few sites about sodium bentonite and
also
the product bentomat. This is sodium bentonite woven with fabric-
they
use it to line landfills and huge ponds. Haven't found a supplier
though. Tidy Cat unscented clumping cat litter is 100% sodium
bentonite.


--
Koitoy