Ok, here goes, this is why I searched for a pond forum. I have a leak somewhere in my pond. I have shut off the waterfall and it still went down, I'm waiting for it to finally settle and then search for it. But when I ran the waterfall, it was worse, this one is very slow. So that probably means I have a bad spot in my hose that runs from the skimmer to the waterfall, right? My waterfall seemed to have settled and I thought that might be the problem so I did dig down but it's not excessively wet. I probably need to dig the complete hose out to find the spot or if I dig in places and don't find really wet soil, can I rule that out? It's kind of frustrating and at one point I was tempted to just start from scratch but it was no small job putting it in!! Any suggestions out there?
Leaking pond
- Thread starter mailmam71
- Start date
koidaddy
karps house of koi
Welcome. You might have a couple of leaks if you are still losing water with the waterfall off. Is that an independent line or is it feed into somewhere else?
To see if its the main pond you might have to let it stop droping and when it does that is were your leak would be if its a liner problem. If its plumbing try to narrow it down which it sounds like you have to the area and go from there. What kind of tubing are you using for the falls?
To see if its the main pond you might have to let it stop droping and when it does that is were your leak would be if its a liner problem. If its plumbing try to narrow it down which it sounds like you have to the area and go from there. What kind of tubing are you using for the falls?
Something I learned a few years back when I had a leak in the hose that is supplying my bio-falls. I noticed when it was leaking I would see bubbles coming up from the bottom of the bio-falls. As the water leaked out, air leaked in.....My pond water level has been going down ever so slightly...I am attributing it to the warm days and cool night evaporating the water. This may also be your situation.
koidaddy
karps house of koi
To check for evaporation I have read that if you fill a container with some water and float it in the pond for a day and see how far it drops in the container you can determin if its evaporation. In another thread we were discussing the pond tubing. Do you know what type you used? I was using some of the home depot stuff and had some problems.
I have just one line, it is 1 1/2 tubing, the kind with ribs that is supposed to do okay in freezing temps as my line is just buried about 6" below the ground and we are COLD here in the winter. I take my pump out of the skimmer and put it in the center of the pond in the winter with a line going straight up to keep it open and areated for the fish. My water line runs uphill so it drains back until it reached the water level of the pond. I wasn't thinking that I should have lowered the pond until all the water is drained back out of the water tubing. This is the third year and the first time I've had such a stubborn leaking problem.
I hadn't thought of evaporation as a problem but we are having extremely warm weather right now, I will try the check with a container and see if that could be my problem. I keep waiting for it to stop so I can check the liner for holes but maybe that is my problem. That is interesting about watching for air bubbles, You have both given me much to think about and try and I do so appreciate it!
I hadn't thought of evaporation as a problem but we are having extremely warm weather right now, I will try the check with a container and see if that could be my problem. I keep waiting for it to stop so I can check the liner for holes but maybe that is my problem. That is interesting about watching for air bubbles, You have both given me much to think about and try and I do so appreciate it!
My problem with bio-falls leaking was ...no clamp where hose meets bio-falls...that was taken care of. I bought my 1 1/2 " hose from the pond store near me and have not had problems with it. It has been installed for 5 years now.
Another thing about hoses that I like to share with people. When I built my pond I buried a 4 inch flexible pipe from the pond to the bio-falls. Inside the 4 inch pipe I ran my 1 1/2" hose. If I need to replace the hose I simply pull out old one and snake in new hose.....NO DIGGING REQUIRED...:bouncycig:
Another thing about hoses that I like to share with people. When I built my pond I buried a 4 inch flexible pipe from the pond to the bio-falls. Inside the 4 inch pipe I ran my 1 1/2" hose. If I need to replace the hose I simply pull out old one and snake in new hose.....NO DIGGING REQUIRED...:bouncycig:
koidaddy
karps house of koi
Great tip MassKoi!