Another new member - new pond

[Debx6]

Hello all - I joined here last year to learn as much as I can in anticipation of getting a new pond put in. We had a pondless waterfall put in Mar 2020 and are adding the pond to that. We had planned to put it in last year but, due to unforeseen circumstances, it took another year for the hole to get dug. But, this week we got it dug out. And now I'm trying to dial up again on pond building. Thank goodness I had already bought the underlayment and liner last year. I hear the prices have gone up.

So we're starting to create our new pond and I do have a couple of newbie questions.

I've already moved the pump over to the skimmer and need to hook up the tubing, which should arrive today. Of course, the way it is set up, it is the longest way around - but that is the side the tubing up to the waterfall is on. What do you guys usually do with the return lines? Bury it? Lay it across the bottom of the pond?

We plan to get the pump up and running before we do anything permanent just to make sure everything is working well.

2nd question. How much do I need to build up around the edge. This is a low spot in our yard and we already have a french drain going under just to the right of the pond in the 2nd photo and then going under the deck. We've also built a wall to mitigate some of the runoff from the back yard. I don't want it to be too big of a hump because I'd like to have easy access for enjoying the fish and sitting at the edge of the water. I've built it up just a tad and added a few stones loosely around the edge for now. They were left over from the wall so they're fairly flat.

 

[j.w]

@Debx6
I don't use a skimmer so no help there. Not sure on how big you need to build the berm up since you also have that drain. Mine is just about a foot or so but I didn't plan on sitting on the edge and mine is full of rocks. I'll leave this one to those who are more experienced w/this type of set up.

 

[JRS]

Welcome!

 

[cas]

Be aware that if you walk on the stone along the edges that it can lower over time and cause a leak. The edges of my pond are raised 3-4 inches and even with not walking on the stone, over the years it lowered the liner. If I had a concern about runoff getting into the pond, I would have put a berm out away from the pond to redirect the water. Your french drain may handle that.

I buried my PVC tubing a couple of inches below the dirt under the rocks. Others have run the tubing inside the pond.

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome!

 

[GBBUDD]

Welcome to the site.

your first question is a judgement call on how confident you are with plumbing and how you see the finish product. Can you run the pipe in the pond sure. " NOT MY CUP OF TEA " HOWEVER if dig a trench under the liner so that the liner goes into the trench and then you stuff the pipe down that in that trench you can hide if all the while having the plumbing in the pond and leaks are controlled. Are you using flex pvc and not kink free?

Second question the berm has to control the run off from getting into the pond. fertilizers , weed killers etc must be kept out of the water.

you said this was a low area and you already have a French drain etc. To me i would definitely install a relief pipe under the liner to prevent any possibility of a hippo. Hippo is when water gets under the liner and the pressure builds to where a huge bubble comes to the surface and looks like a hippos back. This is easily preventable NOW by placing something that will allow water an easier path out from below the liner an open pipe or two it all depends how much water you think may get under the pond.

I would also not cut ANY liner IN THE BOTTOM OF THE PHOTO ID MAKE THAT Area a shallow stagnant bog area for plants a beach area or even deep enough for fish or lilies

Don't forget the most important shelf of all the one that is just below the surface of the pond that your edging rocks sit on IN the water and hide the liner.

 

[addy1]

Welcome to the forum!

Good advice above

 

[Debx6]

thanks for everyone's warm welcome. We learned the hard way what happens when you don't build the berm up high enough. We had heavy rains a few nights ago and came out to find the pond almost filled with muddy water! We spent most of yesterday pumping and cleaning and then building up the berm even higher with both rocks and dirt. I also discovered that water got under the liner too, so we spent some time trying to troubleshoot that. We had more rain last night and we seem to have fixed the muddy water running into the pond problem. However, the liner is raised up a bit at the bottom again. We'll spend some more time working on that this week. The landscaper (who is my neighbor) is going to come and fill in that very muddy area with leftover dirt from the dig, and grade it away from the pond. But, it's way, way too muddy to get in there with his big machine right now. I've attached a photo of what we woke up to yesterday morning... Thank goodness my pond pump wasn't fully installed. It worked great at getting the water out fast.

While it was very tiring for this 55+ couple, it was also fun learning and troubleshooting.

Oh, and to answer the question about the pipe. It is flex free.

 

[poconojoe]

Wow, that's a lot of extra liner!
Why not make the pond bigger?
Many of us started out small and later built a bigger pond. You can skip that and go bigger with all that extra liner.

 

[GBBUDD]

You're wise getting a landscaper who homely knows his trade and can properly grade the area for you. Just remember if you take one area away where the water use to go where will it go next.

 

[Mgessert]

Per poconojoe’s suggestion, it looks like you could go up another tier and raise the pond banks, since you have plenty of liner.

 

[Debx6]

that's a good idea about going up another tier. I will ponder that. The pond is pretty big now 17'x13' and we also have an issue with established trees right behind where I took the photo. There was already a lot of big roots our neighbor took out.