Bad News I think I ripped my liner

[FredrikAnderson]

I am pretty sure I must have put a hole in my liner underneath my water fall. I tried to make sure that didn't happen by putting down a 1" thick rubber mat on top of it before putting on the massive boulders. However we ended up fighting them a little more then expected and must have did some damage to the liner because now I am losing water at about 6 gal/hr. I figure I am losing some due to splashing and a little to evaporation but it was pretty late in the day when I noticed the drop in level over the hour. I will look at it again in the morning and see if it continues at that kind of rate.
Don't think I am going to do anything about it because there is now way I am moving those boulders again and it looks great. I think I can live with the water lose.
I did have a question that fits in with this situation however. I was planning on installing a water line that automatically adds water when the level drops due to evaporation. Now it seems even more important but I don't know how good the new water (City, which is chlorinated) will be for my ecosystem if I am adding it at this rate or at any rate for that matter?

 

[aviator79]

I want to have a system that adds water to mine as well along with a alarm that sounds with waves mroe than like 3" incase the kid fall in. For you situation maybe figure out if you could fill a barrel and have it gravity feed to the a solonoid that would open after water height dropped below certain amount. THou at 6 gal/hr you would need a 200 gallon barrel to even come close to making a difference
To me It seems that if this is your waterfall you may be loosing it other places than just a rip:
https://www.gardenpondforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=835&d=1245885165

 

[FredrikAnderson]

Well Bad gets worse. I let it go over night and have figured out that it is losing more like 12.7gal/hr which is obviously way to much to ignore (after thinking about it 6/hr was to much to ignore also).
I will have to take apart the falls and somehow move the rocks to a staging area to fix the liner and possible the base. Just when things were going so well too. I thought I would do a few things different however I wouldn't change the look of the falls or rocks. I will have to try to recreate that when I do it again. I will keep everyone posted.

 

[aviator79]

make sure you gett some padding like carpet or underlyment under the rocks this time, maybe even glue some to the bottom of the rocks along with some on the liner or even same gravel or sand or something.

 

[JohnR]

Let the pond drain itself to show where the tear is. with some luck maybe it is toward the top and you wont have to move as much stuff. What kind of liner are you using?

 

[FredrikAnderson]

The leak can only be right underneath the rocks. The rocks are on a little stand made from building blocks, paving stones and concrete backerboard. it is only about 4ft by 4ft. I have a liner on that which dumps off into the pond. I did put down a large piece of 3/4 inch thick rubber matting on top of the liner to put the rocks on but I must have somehow missed the matting somehow. Well, I can see all around the rocks and can see that there is no leaking there however, I can see water seeping out of the platform. I just have to look at it as a chance to change the few things I wish I did differently.

 

[kelli]

This started as a suggestion to seal around the boulder where you're losing the water, but now I realize you're not actually certain where it's coming from.

http://www.water-garden-shop-relaxingdecor.com/items/clearance-/waterfall-foam-sealer-detail.htm


Sorry. Good luck!!

 

[FredrikAnderson]

I took off as many of the surrounding rocks I had to to expose the 2 larger boulders to the point I could get some really large straps around them. I now plan to build a very heavy duty beam that will go over them and attach them to it and raise the whole thing up with a 5 ton bottle jack. Should be pretty wild but I will make sure I am very safe. I will be lifting between 1500 and 2000 pounds. I will post a picture when I have it raised up. Once I have it raised up I am going to rebuild the platform a bit and put in a new liner and rubber mating.
I should then be able to lower it down and not have to worry about ripping it again. After that I can dress it up again and attach my piping and filter again. Then joy will transcend upon me and the world will be my playground once again.

 

[FredrikAnderson]

Just Wondering could I repair a hole it a 45mil liner with with a tire patch like you see for bikes? It isn't that big of a liner but I already have the patch kit. Figured if it is a small hole I could just patch it right there or go out to buy a new piece of liner if it is really bad. Not going to get a new liner until I see the problem so if I could just patch it, it would save me time and money.

 

[koiguy1969]

why not? try it, maybe do that then spread a little silicone sealer over it like aquarium adhesive. or just use an extra piece of liner and the sealer.

 

[FredrikAnderson]

i would think that if you can fill up a tire with actual PSI behind it and holding back air. It should have no problem holding back water with no real pressure being forced on it.

 

[koiguy1969]

did you use waterfall foam to help direct the water where YOU want it to go, not where it finds its own path...$12.00 a can at LOWES..wise investment!! spray it in the cracks that you dont want water traveling.. it expands.. next day trim it up. its black and will disappear into the rocks. you dont have to leave it sitting over night . you can run your filter shortly after application.

 

[DrDave]

If you have any acetone, clean the liner good where you want to apply the patch. Rough up the surface with 80 grit sandpaper then clean again with acetone. Your tire patch should then grip very well.

 

[FredrikAnderson]

I used the foam and it worked well, now that I have to move the rocks to to fix the liner, I had to remove some of the rocks but the bulk of them I am going to try to lift together. I will get some more foam to touch it all up once it is fixed. I have acetone and will use it to clean the surface before I use the ruffing pad that is in the patch kit. As long as the liner isn't totally trashed I should be fine.

 

[FredrikAnderson]

Well yesterday I was able to lift up my rocks, here is a picture of the madness.

I have replaced the liner and have put the boulders back down. Shouldn't have any rips this time. Today I am going to re-plumb and relocate the other rocks and do a test to make sure everything is how I want it before glue and foam are used. I will keep everyone up to date on my progress. I still have never understood how I am suppose to add water to my pond that is not chlorinated, if the only water I have availible to me is city tap water that has chlorine in it? Anyone able to bring me up to speed?