Could this really be my water loss leak?

[vermonster]

Hi All,
Fairly new to the pond world. We have a 5500 gallon pond at a home we bought recently. It was holding water perfectly, then shortly after a crew installed some additional stone after cleaning it, we now have a leak. I was losing 1.5-2" per day. I let it settle to where it stopped dropping, pulled back the stone on the bottom and the felt liner cover around the water line. All I have found is a single little hole about a 1/4" diameter (a bit smaller than a pencil). Is it possible this little hole is draining that much water?

There are no bank breaches, I have checked evaporation with the bucket test, and have ruled out the pump/plumbing and waterfall and stream. I can certainly patch this, gently put the stone back and refill, but wanted to ask first. I'd really hate to start over and have to pull all that stone again if I can avoid it!
Thanks,
Cory

 

[poconojoe]

I guess water loss amount might depend on the type of soil and how well water can drain through it.
I think patch it and see what happens.
I can't see that you have any other choice.

 

[combatwombat]

Could there be other holes? Maybe! But I think it's certainly possible to lose that much water from a 1/4" hole in that time period. If you found a hole, though, you have to patch it.

You can always patch this hole and then fill back up 2-3" at a time to see if you start losing water again before putting rock back.

 

[addy1]

It is surprising how much you can lose from a small hole. I have had tiny trickle edge leaks and lose many inches.

I would call the company back and have them fix it.

Welcome to our forum!

 

[vermonster]

Thanks all. I am headed to patch it this morning, and I'll refill just a few inches to see if it holds water or indicates other holes, refilling the rock each time I raise the level after I know it is holding water. We live in the high desert, so the soil is basically sand and lava...it drains like a hose. I don't think we could make a puddle if we tried!

I appreciate the insight. Let's hope this is it!

 

[poconojoe]

Good luck!
Post back to let us know how it works out.

 

[j.w]

@vermonster
That's about all you can do, patch, watch and patch some more. Hope your patches work!

 

[vermonster]

Well, I patched the hole and refilled to 2” above the patch. In 24 hours the pond dropped about a half inch (my evaporation bucket for comparison dropped about 3/16”).

So it is definitely far better, but I’m afraid I may have another hole still left to find

 

[combatwombat]

What are the exact steps you are using to do your bucket test? There's a specific methodology to follow to make sure your bucket and pond will evaporate at the same rate. Are you placing pond water in your bucket and are you submerging the bucket in the pond to about the same level as the bucket is full?

If you're doing that, then yeah, you probably do have another leak.

 

[vermonster]

Thanks @combatwombat. I was not following theses steps. I simply filled a bucket from the hose and set it near the pond so it got the same weather. I’ll change to pond water and keeping it submerged to the same level too and see if I get a different result. Thanks for the help!

 

[poconojoe]

What are the exact steps you are using to do your bucket test? There's a specific methodology to follow to make sure your bucket and pond will evaporate at the same rate. Are you placing pond water in your bucket and are you submerging the bucket in the pond to about the same level as the bucket is full?

If you're doing that, then yeah, you probably do have another leak.

That's an interesting procedure! Sounds very precise. I've never heard of that, but it makes so much sense!

 

[combatwombat]

That's an interesting procedure! Sounds very precise. I've never heard of that, but it makes so much sense!

Yep. Learned that from an old pool service tech. Good way to make sure your bucket and your pool/pond are experiencing nearly the same evaporative effect.

 

[Kobe]

How do you account for the stream and waterfall in the evaporation test? I have a relatively small pond with a long stream and the pond looses about an inch per day.