Haste makes waste... Suggestions needed

[keshimakesh]

Hi, all!

I'm building my first pond & wanted it to look natural. So, naturally, I bought a lot of pebbles to cover the pond liner.

Turns out what I bought was pea gravel, which was sharper than I thought it would be. I shrugged and put it in the pond anyways.

The day after I put in the liner, it was clear there was a leak.

I found a tear the size of my pinky nail and patched it. And it's still leaking... somewhere and I don't think I'm finding all the leaks.

What should I do? The liner is covered with these potentially sharp rocks & every time I step in it I'm concerned I might be putting more holes in the liner.

I'm afraid the answer is "take all the gravel out and replace it and the liner if you find a lot of holes".

I'm tempted if that's the case just to hire someone to re-install it for me... It's a fairly large pond (~24'x20').

Thoughts?

 

[bagsmom]

Hi! I am wondering what your liner is made of? Do you have an underlayment? I think most everyone on here will agree that the liner is one of the most important parts of the pond and is worth spending more for. I am working on a new pond and I am even taking an additional step to protect the liner, since the pond will be for wildlife that may step in the water. The first layer on the ground is an underlayment to protect the liner from below. Then comes the liner. It is 45 mil EPDM and is very strong. Pea gravel would not make a hole in it. The extra step will be to put a thick geotextile fabric on TOP of the EPDM rubber liner. I'm sorry you have had so many leaks. That would be frustrating!!!!

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome — I see you joined us back in February.

What kind of material did you use for the liner? Have you filled it completely up? How much /how fast is it leaking, and are you sure that the leak(s) are coming from the liner and not from a plumbing connection (I know you said you found a tear, but leaks come from all sorts of places)? Do you have an underlayment?

Ordinarily, pea gravel doesn’t have sharp edges......but anything is possible. That is a lot of real estate to explore, and I hate to say it, but if you are suspecting there are multiple leaks......emptying the gravel and stone might be your only choice. A pond is only as good as the liner and you will be fighting a never ending battle. Just MHO.

Lovely pond, BTW!

 

[Mmathis]

@bagsmom We were answering at the same time, LOL!

 

[GBBUDD]

Not having fabric between the peastone and rubber is not the best. But many are concerned fabric in the pond will hold too much silt. I fell its definitely worth having the protection, the fabric is m I re surface area for microbes to grow. . I wish I had put fabric 100 percent over the liners am about 70 percent and pond is amazing.
My question to you is what are you doing for a filter?
Now to your question. Be grateful you only have the least one and a few rocks. Fill the pond up to your patch and make sure it is not leaking my advise is to patch over the patch to if you had a 4 inch patch on the pinky sized hole I would them
put a 8 inch patch over the 4 this was your patch is protected from the elements , fish and or rocks. Once you know that's not leaking anymore don't go crazy fill up only a foot and leave that sit for 24 hours. Make sure to mark where be water level is and contrary to what most believe rock does absorb water so you may drop a little.
Once you find water dropping let it drop until the water settles and no longer drops that particular leak will be somewhere at the water level. I would mark several spots around the pond then pump the water down so you can find the leak,
Then repeat.if needed one other item to note make sureyour patches all have rounded edges no 90 degree edges.

 

[brokensword]

pea gravel is not sharp. I suspect the tear was from something else, perhaps something in your process of dumping all the gravel in. That said, you don't need much to make it 'look natural'. An inch or less would have sufficed. If you suspect a leak under the gravel, there's no choice but to remove it, fill and wait to see what happens. Fix any leaks and decide if you really want that gravel in there. In time, algae is going to cover everything so you're only getting a small window of 'natural stone' viewing anyway. I have a thin layer, less than 1/2" inch of pea gravel but only because I now have koi and they root the bottom in nature. Before then, I had only liner.

Now, from your pic, at the bottom, it looks like this separate layer has crushed stone in it which IS sharp edged. Is this supposed to be your bog? If so, I'd be really concerned it has leaks. The pea gravel should be in the bog area; most of us have at least 12" of pea gravel in ours. So, if the crushed stone area has any connection to your pond, I'd remove that stone, fill and check for leaks. If that is a bog, then fill with the pea gravel you put in the pond proper.

 

[j.w]

@keshimakesh
Yep it sounds like you put crushed gravel in there instead of pea gravel?

 

[mrsclem]

The large stones around the wet looking area to the right of the deepest section look like they may have edges that could cut liner. Was any reinforcement put under the large stones?

 

[poconojoe]

You really don't need to camouflage the liner. After your pond has matured there will be a natural beneficial biofilm that will cover it.

Some people do like the gravel in pond look, it's a matter of preference.
I however wonder what that gravel will look like and how to clean it once debris like leaves start to collect on the bottom.

I prefer a bare liner for those reasons and for the exact reason you're having puncture problems.

Then there's the liner material, as others have mentioned. 45 mil EPDM or HDRPE are the two preferred materials. Stay away from a PVC liner. They puncture easily and dry rot from the sunlight within a few months. I know this from a very bad experience.

 

[keshimakesh]

Thank you, all! Replies:

• @bagsmom @Mmathis I used a fabric underlayment below the pond liner, which is the 45 mil EPDM.
• @bagsmom & @GBBUDD Huh, I never thought about adding another layer of fabric on top of the liner!
• @GBBUDD Since I don't plan on putting any fish in (wanting to attract frogs), I wasn't planning on putting in a specific filter or pump or anything. Instead, most of the pond will be filled with plants. I may in the future decide I need to expand a bit and add a filter.
• @brokensword @j.w Yes, the outer later does have crushed gravel - but that's to stabilize the flagstones I'll be putting around the pond will be. I mostly decided that would be what will weigh down the edges of the pond liner. I also have a few layers of the pea gravel because I wanted to plant the pond plants directly into the gravel rather than keeping them in baskets.
• @mrsclem I put an inch of the pea gravel beneath the stones before I put them in. Do you think that would be enough reinforcement?

I'll see if I can find any more holes & fill up the pond. Sounds like if it's still draining I'll need to take out the gravel & stones, look for holes, put an (overlayment?) on top of the liner. Thanks everyone!

 

[GBBUDD]

@mrsclem I put an inch of the pea gravel beneath the stones before I put them in. Do you think that would be enough reinforcement?

Sorry to butt in but one inch of pea is only enough to keep the rock in somewhat place . Pea stone does not lock up well at all. When your in the pond and you will be planting and pulling plants. That one inch will move around easily .

 

[GBBUDD]

The problem with all river rocks pea stones etc is that they break and split and usualy when that occurs it leaves a often razor sharp edge literally. Not only can this cut rubber often they can be so sharp you can shave with it.