Have a small waterfall feature and not sure how much water should be lost

[fernker]

Hi there!

I have a small pondless waterfall that I had installed about a year ago.

I've been dealing with lots of leaks and they keep coming back to correct them. Most of them have been the liner being put back below the water level, but some of been where they had to extend the liner and they didn't glue it correctly.

At this point I'm losing about 2.6 gallons of water every 4 hours. Pretty constant rate, and it's the same if it's 80 degrees or 50 degrees out. I live in the desert which means the air is dry.

But I'm just trying to figure out if I should be losing about 8 gallons of water a day or if there's possibly another leak.

I'm having a hard time finding a good idea of what I should be expecting. Some calculations say I should expect to lose about 6 gallons a day, while others suggest I should expect that over 5 days. A lot of the calculations are for larger ponds and water features.

Here's a pic of the water feature (the water isn't flowing here as I was showing the installer a time when the flow was reduced, just adding a picture to give a visual on the length and drop of the water): https://photos.app.goo.gl/RXSx5FDxjq9iaYGZ8

The pump is rated for 700 GPH, but from the bottom of the basin to the top is about 5 feet of elevation gain, with a length of about 10 feet.

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[j.w]

@fernker

 

[GBBUDD]

6 gallons sounds reasonable and here is why. yes you're in an arid area and the sun is usually pretty brutal and as the water splashes up on those rocks it simply evaporates so each one of those rocks is a humidifier. pour a gallon of water onto a concrete walk how long does it last before you see no sign of doing so about 10 minutes?

 

[fernker]

6 gallons sounds reasonable and here is why. yes you're in an arid area and the sun is usually pretty brutal and as the water splashes up on those rocks it simply evaporates so each one of those rocks is a humidifier. pour a gallon of water onto a concrete walk how long does it last before you see no sign of doing so about 10 minutes?

Good points, still doesn't feel like I'd get the exact same water rate loss at 50 degrees though as it should be directly tied to air temperature (and rocks).

 

[GBBUDD]

looking closer at this build it doesnot look like a stream that a pro has built there is very little that screams they had built more than on in the past. if they have , maybe they should be looking for another profession. I do not see any waterfall foam and what i also don't see is a similar amount of water making it tot he bottom of the falls as is at the top the amount of water loss geting under the rocs should be minimal and its quite noticable. i hope you didn't spend a lot on this being narrow is tough to do .

now i can not see what he had to work with and this is just off a photo your stairs may have been a hurdle to do more who knows. but not sealing up all the cavities for water to escape is a mistake.