Holes all in my 45mil EPDM Liner...

[Jason]

So I have been noticing the bottom of my 450 gallon patio pond has always been damp and wet around the bottom layer of cinder blocks. At first I thought is was cinderblock waterfalls I made for them a year ago as I found out concrete is porous
Then I bought a Pro 2000 waterfall spillway to stop that leaking, and the bottom outside of the pond was still wet a week later !
This past weekend I got a friend to help me take everything apart and pull the liner out and after looking for HOURS we found a total of 21 holes that pierced through the heavy duty EPDM liner. Once I thought about it, I realized that I have dropped a few cinder blocks and rocks in the pond when moving them on accident but never thought anything of it until my friend stated that was what caused the holes.

I asked him HOW? I bought the thickest liner I could find and it's sitting on flat smooth concrete and no roots or anything else to worry about and it has been through worse drops like sharp granite and large pine tree roots pushing against it!?

He laughed and said, "Imagine getting hit in the head with a baseball, the baseball is hard, your skull is hard so the only thing left is your tough skin to bust open" I knew exactly why it happened as soon as he said it and knew that dirt under a liner was a lot safer than smooth concrete for dropping things or sharp objects

I bought some good ole 3M Marine 5200 Fast Cure as well as a patch kit for EPDM liners and applied 5200 sealant over the holes then the patches just to be sure. Hopefully it holds up and I added about 2" of play sand on top of the concrete slab for some extra cushioning in case of a future drop.

Just a funny story of learning something from your mistakes

 

[addy1]

Glad you figured it out. I usually put carpet under layment to help protect the liner softens those blows.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

Thanks for sharing your story, it may help others from making the same mistake. Glad you were able to fix it.

 

[Dave 54]

People tend to forget the weight of water on things like sharp angles lumps and bumps Jason it can will and does punture things like a knife sliicing through butter as you have just found out to your cost my young friend

Dave

 

[Jason]

All is holding now and fixed... except my 1-1/4" tubing keeps blowing off the back of the waterfall spillway? It's only a 1,200gph pump and the spill way is rated for up to 2,000gph. I think it is the bulkhead fitting creating too much back pressure as after it goes into the spillway container it hit's a flat wall then goes down. Even 2 hose clamps did not hold it on lol

 

[sissy]

That is why I asked ponddigger about how they move the rocks around on a waterfall or when they are cleaning a pond and walking all over the stones on the bottom ,how can you not make holes .I tested it on a scrap ,I walked all over the river rocks when wet and then pulled the liner up and saw several holes in the liner where the rocks had rubbed through the liner .I also saw a couple of stretched out spots .I put underlayment under it and a tamped down bed of sand as that would be similar to a pond build .Liners are not that strong .Geeze a dog sliced a liner I had with his toe nails .

 

[bettasngoldfish]

All is holding now and fixed... except my 1-1/4" tubing keeps blowing off the back of the waterfall spillway? It's only a 1,200gph pump and the spill way is rated for up to 2,000gph. I think it is the bulkhead fitting creating too much back pressure as after it goes into the spillway container it hit's a flat wall then goes down. Even 2 hose clamps did not hold it on lol

It's always something, isn't it?

 

[bettasngoldfish]

We used sand and then underlayment when we did ours.

 

[Jason]

I bought 1" thick foam work mats and laid them on the bottom as I needed a flat bottom for laying cinder blocks in the pond stacked to hold up a 20 gallon tall aquarium as an over the pond observatory. Looks very cool, once the water gets better clarity I will take pics

 

[sissy]

We need someone to invent a self sealing pond liner .Get a hole it closes up and hole is gone .Maybe someone in the future can come up with one