Fixing/Upgrading

[raw157]

Good afternoon,

My wife and I are working on fixing our koi pond. It is a circle, appropriately 13x13 with a waterfall.

We bought it with the house, and did not build it. It has had some major drainage issues, either from a leak, evaporation, or plants (cat tails and lilies) taking all the water. Either way, the passed three summers, it's always gotten very low. To the point where I have had to turn off the pump and had it filled a few times. Earlier this week, we pulled the fish because it was almost out of water. Today we went in and removed all the tails and flowers.

I want to fix the pond, and get it to a point where whatever is taking all the water isn't happening and it doesn't look so wild.

All that being said, the thing is lined and I bought a new pump last summer. Is there anything I can use on the liner to avoid replacing it, but to rewater proof it? I don't know for certain that it's the culprit but while it's empty, might as well. I've seen some fish safe epoxies. Could I just run that over the entire liner that the water would contact?

Open to any other ideas as well..

Thanks!

 

[GBBUDD]

Your not sure it's the liner that's leaking from the sound of it . You mentioned a waterfall that is a very strong suspect as to why you maybe losing water. Post some pictures you can describe for days about your pond . pictures are a huge benefit

 

[raw157]

Let me know if you need anything more specific. I think the water fall may be a contributing factor, but it hasn't been running for weeks due to low water level.

1.From pump looking towards water fall. 2. Angle looking up toward fall. 3. Waterfall looking down

 

[GBBUDD]

Yeah i see the intent but there could be leaks all over. there's no form to the water fall directing the water . the skimmer box could also be a major source for the leak .
as mentioned before let the water drain until it stops. I'm betting it stops at the bottom of the skimmers face plate.

Looks like you have a bog?
With all the debris sticks leaves and such i would lean toward starting over. I know it may sound extreme but it appears you have all the pieces for a successful pond your just missing a few steps.
shelves around the top edge of the pond as a minimum. so the rocks will hide the liner.
maybe a shelf a foot and a half down for plants like lilies and pickerel rush.
Hiding the liner in particular at the water surface is key to longevity and naturalizing.
It appears there is no fabric over the liner to protect the liner from the rocks ect.
is there fabric under the liner?

 

[raw157]

The pictures there are from after today when we cleaned and drained the pond. The water in it is just from the rain we had last evening. So, that will need drained again. The liner you see there is actually where the water level is suppose to be. If I can find a picture of it, I'll send it on.

There were so many plants and root mats, it looked completely dried out. Once we started to take out the roots, all the water they were holding started to appear.

There is not a fabric over the liner, today when I start to move rocks, I will check under the liner too.

Do I need to remove the entire old liner? There are some massive rocks that I'm not positive I'm moving. Or can I place a new liner over the old? That could help reinforce it, right?

 

[GBBUDD]

You can spend some time evaluating where the leak is coming from if you fill up the pond and mark where that level is and let it drain on its own it will stop when the water gets Bow the leak the hole will be along that area some where if it doesn't move the look at skimmer and bog and biofalls repeat step one but one at a time mark and see where it stops.
As to liner over liner yes it can be left as a protective layer but you'll need to put some good holes in it to let ground water move through it and not create a hippo

 

[raw157]

Ok, so I can't fill the pond. We are on a rain water cistern, and can't really afford to be dumping water in just to see what happens. So, we'll just go with the liner and falls and moving the skinner down.

 

[GBBUDD]

Before you do from the pictures there's some design issues with the waterfall that cry out. The waterfall itself should be in the shape of a horse shoe. Now that doesn't mean the sides g!very to stick way out but they do need to collect and control the splash. Your falls looks to be in a straight line from one side to the other. Waterfall foam can help direct water where you want it but it is not waterproof

 

[raw157]

Thanks so much for your help thus far! We went to a local-ish garden pond place today and talked to the owner for 30 minutes or so. We are going to continue to clean it out, adjust the intake (lower to the water level), adjust/cleanup the water fall, then fill it and check for leaks. We don't really want to spend the $1k on a liner.

I'll be back tonight probably with more issues.