4 replies to this topic

[Rbritt]

Hi everyone! I'm wondering if anyone has suggestions on how to prevent this problem over the coming winter. We finally got our pond dug (by hand) late last year but it was too late to do much but fill it with water and wait until Spring for plants and fish. Springtime came and the liner had floated to the point that most of the water was displaced to the top of the pond or a small pocket at the bottom. We live on the top of a "mountain" and it's nothing but rock around here. There's a field behind our house and it appears that we get some drainage water coming under ground, down the hill and into our backyard. So there was so much water under ground that it displaced the liner and the water in the pond, ugh! We've got a berm set up behind the pond but apparently that didn't help. So this Spring I put several (about 10-15) medium size rocks inside the pond and put in some river stone as well. The fish and plants are all doing well, pond is clean (finally after a major algae bloom last week with the extreme heat) and other than high pH all other levels are good. Just wondering if there's anything else I can do to hopefully avoid having the liner float again this winter and having it suffocate my beloved fish? I've heard about digging a french drain of some sort but with the rock content up here, chances of me getting hubby to dig one more inch after doing the pond are pretty slim. Any suggestions. Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance!
Beth

[DrDave]

We are not an advocate of rocks, but, with the condition you are posing to us, your few rocks strategically placed should keep it down.

That said. you need to have good circulation around the rocks to avoid dead spots and a septic condition.

[Rbritt]

Thanks Dr Dave! I guess i just have to hope the rocks are heavy enough to counterbalance all of the underground water. Fingers crossed here and thanks for the tip about the flow and "dead spots". So far, it seems okay but I'll keep an eye out.
Beth

[aviator79]

I would use flagstone/flat rocks where possible. I have heard of others having simaler issues, but also your problem is that the water was able to get out. I would think raising the hight of the outside edge all around much higher than the surrounding would prevent the water from coming out even if it was lifted a little so that the it couldn never happen.

[DrCase]

aviator79 said:

I
I would think raising the hight of the outside edge all around much higher than the surrounding would prevent the water from coming out

Like aviator suggested raising the pond edge ..
say 4" above the ground you would have The extra weight of 4" of water in the pond .
That would give you more weight holding the liner down..
This would be enough to over come the force trying to push it up