CW's Back Yard Water Garden Begins!

[combatwombat]

I don't think turning the pump off for a day or two will derail the cycling process too much.

That’s good to hear. Will try to keep it off for as short a time as possible.

There's still some chance that the leak is in your plumbing somewhere, rather than in the liner, which would be a relief.

Well. I have literally observed 20 punctures in the liner that are leaking, so I think those chances are small.

Can you add some food coloring or dye to check for leaks? I've heard of people using milk for this as well.

I’ll plan to try this if there is still a leak after I patch the known holes.

 

[SarahT]

Yeah, what happened to him? Built an awesome pond. Had a big problem. Solved it. Now his username has disappeared?

Anyway, I've now clocked 5" of loss in the reservoir since yesterday which more or less confirms the loss of about 250 gallons per day. Also played with increasing the pump speed to see if that increased loss. But I think that's introducing too many variables right now, and I really need to just focus on the leaks I know I have and go from there.

Trying to decide if I should just shut the pump down now and let things sit again until I get the current known leaks patched. I can see a biofilm growing on my rock and gravel already since turning the pump on just a few days ago and am kind dreading the the thought of stopping the cycling process and having to start over.

Do I accept the mounting water loss and leave the the pump running until I'm ready to start patching, try to knock the patches out quickly, and get things going again? Or do I shut it down now because, in reality, I might need to let the system sit idle for several days after patching anyway just to check for additional leaks?

The disappearing user name is odd.
But back to your tasks. I don't think turning off the pump will derail the cycling process much, and would suggest taking the patching slowly - maybe do a few and see how well the patching process works. If it goes well, hooray, but if it doesn't, you aren't trying to patch on a patch.

 

[Rabungalow]

These leaks are only happening in the reservoir and not the main pond correct or is that an unknown?

 

[combatwombat]

The disappearing user name is odd.
But back to your tasks. I don't think turning off the pump will derail the cycling process much, and would suggest taking the patching slowly - maybe do a few and see how well the patching process works. If it goes well, hooray, but if it doesn't, you aren't trying to patch on a patch.

Good call. I will do a couple easy ones and see how it goes before doing them all.

These leaks are only happening in the reservoir and not the main pond correct or is that an unknown?

No, most are in the main pond. One is in the reservoir, though.

 

[Rabungalow]

I'd just leave the pump off for a few days so you can monitor to see if the water level drops below the leaks you have identified already. Not sure what else can be done as you have to be sure it's not leaking from any lower locations then what you've already found. if you want to start to try and patch the leaks you've found then I'd start with lapping on some Flex Seal Liquid. That stuff is crazy strong once it dry's essentially becoming solid rubber. Just don't get any on your clothes or skin as I can speak from experience. Pretty expensive stuff though. It's like $20 something for a tiny can of it.

 

[combatwombat]

I bought some Gorilla Waterproof Tape after learning that it’s a polyethelene tape, which is the same material as my liner. And I’m waiting for Everything Ponds to reply with some more info about their RPE repair tape.

In the mean time, I will experiment with a few different patch techniques on some scrap liner and see how it goes.

Once I’m ready, I think I’ll use spray paint to mark the leaks on the back side of the liner, then drain down the pond below the lowest leak and make the patches inside the liner.

Then refill and evaluate.

Would prefer to place patches on back side of liner for ease of application, but seems better to do it inside so that water pressure pushes the patch into the liner instead of away from it.

d start with lapping on some Flex Seal Liquid. That stuff is crazy strong once it dry's essentially becoming solid rubber.

Thanks. Will see if any neighbors have a bit to spare that I can test with. I’ve mostly heard the opposite—that it doesn’t work well—but will definitely give it a shot if you’ve had success with it.

 

[SarahT]

Once I’m ready, I think I’ll use spray paint to mark the leaks on the back side of the liner, then drain down the pond below the lowest leak and make the patches inside the liner.

Would spray paint have any solvent to liner reaction that might cause another problem or interfere with the patch adhering to the liner?
(and, just alternate problem solving here... how low is the lowest leak below the water level? could you back fill a bit, making the pond perimeter just a little smaller, which would raise that part of the pond liner a little higher and so the leaks would be above the water level of the new perimeter of the pond?)

 

[combatwombat]

Would spray paint have any solvent to liner reaction that might cause another problem or interfere with the patch adhering to the liner?

I don’t THINK so, but I certainly don’t know. A quick google search leads me to believe “probably not.” Paint just doesn’t adhere well to it.

could you back fill a bit, making the pond perimeter just a little smaller, which would raise that part of the pond liner a little higher and so the leaks would be above the water level of the new perimeter of the pond?)

Not without moving a bunch of really big boulders, unfortunately.

 

[CometKeith]

I don’t THINK so, but I certainly don’t know. A quick google search leads me to believe “probably not.” Paint just doesn’t adhere well to it.


Not without moving a bunch of really big boulders, unfortunately.

Hi. I’m sorry about your leaks! My understanding is bb starts to die off within a couple hours of no water movement through a biofilter. I wouldn’t turn the whole system off when you are making repairs. Maybe just lower the water level a little. Re problems.. I don’t think ponds ever don‘ t stop having problems.. they just give us a breather now and then between the problems!

 

[combatwombat]

Hi. I’m sorry about your leaks! My understanding is bb starts to die off within a couple hours of no water movement through a biofilter. I wouldn’t turn the whole system off when you are making repairs. Maybe just lower the water level a little. Re problems.. I don’t think ponds ever don‘ t stop having problems.. they just give us a breather now and then between the problems!

I'm sure you're right about the bb, but the reality of my situation is that if my patches don't fix the problem I am going to have to isolate the 3 systems (bog, pond, reservoir) by shutting the pump off—probably for several days—to monitor water loss in each. So I hope I just found all my leaks and can successfully repair them.

I'm going to need this pond to give me a pretty long breather after this fiasco. Hope I get one!

 

[combatwombat]

Ok, I performed two patching tests tonight and initial results are in.

Test #1 was using a rounded piece of extra liner and affixing it over the liner with Loctite PL-S30. I cleaned both pieces of liner thoroughly with alcohol, spread a thick layer of caulk on the patch and pressed it into the liner until I achieved squeeze out around the whole patch. Then smoothed the squeeze out around the edge of the patch to protect the edge.

Test #2 was using Gorilla Waterproof Patch and Seal Tape. Clean liner with alcohol. Cut a rounded patch. Place over liner and press in thoroughly with a rubber roller.

I can already tell that the tape is the way to go. It's extremely pliable, incredibly sticky, can be applied underwater if necessary (probably won't do that!), is fully "cured" in 24 hours, and was impossible to remove after just 10 minutes. That means I don't have to worry to much about moving the liner around and unseating a patch as I work on another one.

Downside: They say not to use it on seams, and I have at least one leaking seam that needs a patch.

The liner + PL-30 would probably work fine, and that's what I'd do if I had just one patch to do and already had the materials on hand. But it's a lot more messy and the caulk takes a long time to set up, so I would not be able to work on multiple patches in close proximity without worrying about messing up one behind me.

I will probably still use the PL-S30 on the seam that needs repair as I think it may do the job better in that location.

Honestly, I feel good enough about the tape to just start going for it tomorrow, but I think I've got a bit of pre-work to do to make sure I get all my patches all at once without disturbing the cycling process too much.

Wish me luck, folks.

 

[combatwombat]

And now I can't sleep because a frog has moved into the back yard and really wants me to know he's there. I hope my neighbors still think the pond is cool.

 

[addy1]

And now I can't sleep because a frog has moved into the back yard and really wants me to know he's there. I hope my neighbors still think the pond is cool.

I sleep the best when I listen to the frogs at night. Drift right off.

 

[addy1]

I used some of that that tape to patch a hole in my lawnmower deck. Still holding.

 

[SarahT]

Ok, I performed two patching tests tonight and initial results are in.

Test #1 was using a rounded piece of extra liner and affixing it over the liner with Loctite PL-S30. I cleaned both pieces of liner thoroughly with alcohol, spread a thick layer of caulk on the patch and pressed it into the liner until I achieved squeeze out around the whole patch. Then smoothed the squeeze out around the edge of the patch to protect the edge.

Test #2 was using Gorilla Waterproof Patch and Seal Tape. Clean liner with alcohol. Cut a rounded patch. Place over liner and press in thoroughly with a rubber roller.

I can already tell that the tape is the way to go. It's extremely pliable, incredibly sticky, can be applied underwater if necessary (probably won't do that!), is fully "cured" in 24 hours, and was impossible to remove after just 10 minutes. That means I don't have to worry to much about moving the liner around and unseating a patch as I work on another one.

Downside: They say not to use it on seams, and I have at least one leaking seam that needs a patch.

The liner + PL-30 would probably work fine, and that's what I'd do if I had just one patch to do and already had the materials on hand. But it's a lot more messy and the caulk takes a long time to set up, so I would not be able to work on multiple patches in close proximity without worrying about messing up one behind me.

I will probably still use the PL-S30 on the seam that needs repair as I think it may do the job better in that location.

Honestly, I feel good enough about the tape to just start going for it tomorrow, but I think I've got a bit of pre-work to do to make sure I get all my patches all at once without disturbing the cycling process too much.

Wish me luck, folks.View attachment 151131View attachment 151132

LUCK! Glad you found a solution that doesn't include moving many big boulders.