I dug a pond...

[Cwebster12]

I dug a pond with the intention of putting a liner in. It started raining for about 4 days and the pond retained water and has not drained. It’s been about a week and the level has remained relatively stable. I’m not sure if I accidentally found a natural retention area or what. How would you all proceede?

 

[sissy]

You may have found an area that does not perk and it could be good or it could be bad .How hot has it been and what is your average temperature and do you think you have a high water table .The air temps and water temps and sun will factor in if water stays in it

 

[Cwebster12]

It’s Ohio. It’s been in the 70s. This is my second pond and evaporation always kind of stunned me with my original lined pond so I get what you’re saying. I’m thinking of just filling it the rest of the way and monitoring it to see what happens. It’s been an interesting build because it seems like even on the dry days I was digging out mud.

 

[CometKeith]

I dug a pond with the intention of putting a liner in. It started raining for about 4 days and the pond retained water and has not drained. It’s been about a week and the level has remained relatively stable. I’m not sure if I accidentally found a natural retention area or what. How would you all proceede?

Hi. It sounds like you have nothing to lose by trying it. Typically large mud ponds that are kept by breeders are not lined, but you might get a lot of variability of water height with a small pond that is not lined. In general there are certain commons rules to follow for pond keeping but there are exceptions for every rule and obviously you might have found one!

 

[j.w]

@Cwebster12 I would wait it out for a good amount of time to see if the water stays or starts to drop. If you put a liner in when you have a high water table your liner may end up floating upwards and cause trouble whenever it rains.

 

[Jack B. Nimble]

If it were me I would top it off and watch it . If only some loss I would add bentonite to it.

 

[Cwebster12]

I filled it so it was probably 3/4ths of where I planned the water level to be upon completion. In a day it dropped back down to the level it originally filled to with the rain water and leveled back out.

I may have to use the pump to drain it out, put the liner in without filling it and wait for a good rain to see if I get a significant build up under the liner.

 

[Cwebster12]

But I am curious now as to if bentonite would lock the upper 3/4ths of the pond up.

 

[Jack B. Nimble]

Seems the top area is decay and soil and again if it were me I'd be tempted to try but if you want to be hassle free then install the liner.