My first pond build from start to (hopefully) finish

[killerbren]

okay there has been a huge turn of events. Today I was going to dig holes for my filters just to get something accomplished. At 7 tonight I phoned up a friend to come over and help and have a few cold ones. He took one look at the hole and told me I was crazy. This is where I will insert some pictures showing you what it looks like today. The shelves caved in a little over winter and its pretty muddy in the bottom, but the waterfall filter is in at least. I also dug the pond alittle wider as well...

Sissy this picture is just for you...

A few loads of rock I managed to find...

To keep you guys in the loop, up until today I would shovel dirt into a wheelbarrow, then wheelbarrow the dirt up a ramp and into the bed of my 1/2 ton truck. I would then drive out of town and shovel all the dirt out of the back. Ive probably done this about 10 times so far, probably more. Well the problem now is that it is so wet down where Im digging its a sticky clay, which makes it impossible and it doesnt look like it will be drying out anytime soon.


Well, to come back to the beginning of my story, my friend knew a guy who owed him a favor and made a quick phone call. Before you knew it this was parked in my back yard.

Tomorrow will be a huge day, I will keep you guys in the loop....

 

[addy1]

Fantastic! dig away, My tractor is the only reason I have a pond. Make it nice and deep and big while you have that neat little machine!

Beautiful dogs!

 

[CountryEscape]

Woohoo, that looks like you will be having a grand ole time digging now! I have a tractor with loader, too, and like Addy, my 2 ponds would not have been built with the tractor. Digging is easy, pushing that heavy wheelbarrow was too much for this "mature" lady's back and muscles! Thanks goodness for machinery! Can't wait to see more digging pics. Hopefully you will have someone take pics in action with the digging machine.

 

[blessedfamily]

I would be in so much trouble if I had a digging machine lol...can't wait to see more pictures.

 

[sissy]

Oh my gosh are they the cutest things .I love those faces all innocent looking .This is my nut ,that was his nickname and the wood dog is where his sissy is buried ,she was an albino pit bull ,she passed away from cancer .Hunters best spot was his sofa .Do you have sandy soil and thats why parts caved in .happy digging

 

[j.w]

Good going on the tractor...........take advantage of it and dig, dig, dig and dig some more!

 

[killerbren]

So the digging went good, pond is now 4 feet deep, and it was incredibly easy. With the amount of dirt we took out of there it probably would of taken all summer to do by hand.

One tiny problem though. My hole is starting to fill with water. About 3 hours after we finished digging there was about an inch of water on the bottom. I ended up getting in there and dug out the trench and hole for the bottom. Made a mess of things but at least I got the water to the middle where I could scoop it out. This morning I noticed the hose was trickling all night long and ran right into the hole, So im not sure if this water is from a high water table or if it was from the garden hose saturating the dirt.

Do I need to think about putting in some sort of weeping tile under the liner so water can escape or do I just need to make the pond 3 feet deep above the water? Or do I just be patient and wait for the water to dry up?

 

[addy1]

I would wait and see if it drys up, I would think it was your hose running causing the water in the hole. If it was the hose it should soak in.

crazy , I can't edit, anyways was just going to add a trickling hose can dump a whole bunch of water over time

 

[Waterbug]

Do I need to think about putting in some sort of weeping tile under the liner so water can escape or do I just need to make the pond 3 feet deep above the water? Or do I just be patient and wait for the water to dry up?

It's a little tricky. The issue normally has more to do with soil drainage than the height of a water table (unless of course the water table is above the ground surface). The issue is a floating liner. The problem happens in clay soil when any water gets behind the liner, from leaks, drainage, or water table which only has to be slightly above the bottom most level of the pond.

Soil that drains well everything works just as most would expect. The water table would have to be higher than the pond level for the liner to float. Clay soil is different, it holds in the water which causes something many people don't expect.

I'll try 2 examples as it is a bit difficult to understand, at least it was for me.

Bowl example...
Two duplicate bowls that nest. First bowl represents a hole in clay soil. Add a cup of water to represent water getting behind the liner. Set the other bowl inside, it should be floating. Add a cup of water to the pond bowl. Still floating? Add more...still floating. As you fill the pond bowl it pushes down and that cup of water squeezes up the sides. The pond bowl has be completely filled (almost) before it stops floating.

That's a bit counter intuitive to most people.

Now, same test but replace the first bowl with a colander to represent sandy soil that drains well. Pour in the cup of water, it just drains out of course. OK, set the colander in a tub of water a few inches deep. Now set the "pond" bowl inside the colander. It floats. Start filling the pond bowl. This time you only need a few inches of water before the pond bowl stops floating. As water is displaced up the colander sides it fines a hole and drains out into the tub.

Diagrams...

This represents a "normal" pond.

Now with a high water table in sandy soil. No problem.

Same high water table in clay soil. Water is squeezed up the sides. But this picture isn't accurate.

This is what actually happens. As more water gets behind the liner it pushes the pond water level up and out of the pond, and the liner too. Interestingly, in some cases, after rain subsides or whatever, and the "pink" water slowly drains into the soil, the water in the pond will start to push the liner back down. The result is a much lower water level in the pond because of the water that was pushed out. So some pond owners think there's a leak in the pond because they come out in the morning and see the pond down 2'. But asked "did it rain hard the nigh before?" "Like cats and dogs."

One fix is to raise the sides of the pond a bit so water can squeeze up and out before getting higher than the pond water level.

Another fix, but not great, is adding ballast like mortared rock.

This does have a limit. Enough rock has to be added to make up the difference between pond water level and ground. For example, say that difference is 12" and the pond is 10'x10' and 3' deep. The 12" of water would weigh about 6240 lbs. A 6" deep bed of rock and mortar would weigh about 13,650 lbs, but the water displaced by the rocks has to be subtracted, so the net is 7,410 which is enough to keep the liner from floating. But not a lot of wiggle room.

 

[CountryEscape]

Really good examples, Waterbug! Thanks for all the diagrams. Good things to think about. I don't have clay, or not solid clay, so I'm good to go. I would guess like Addy that the hose left on found the lowest place in the yard to eventually gather, and that was your pond, Killerbren. I would drain all the water after another day or so, assuming more is waiting to drain back into your pond from the leak, and THEN decide if the water table is high, or it was simply your hose. And, if you have heavy clay (I doubt it, since you dug it in short order), then just build up the sides and you should be good to go. Good luck!

 

[JenH]

Waterbug, couldn't he just have gravel and rock covering the liner, to keep it from floating, if it is in fact clay soil and a high water table. When we had the preform it wouldn't float at all as long as there were a few heavy rocks in there and the water. As soon as we took out rocks and drained water though it would float. With the new pond, we have river rock on the bottom with larger boulders around the edges at the deepest pool. It doesn't sppear to have moved at all.

 

[taherrmann4]

My pond was built in heavy clay soil so it drains very very slowly. I never had a problem until we got several inches of rain in a short amount of time. Instead of tearing out my pond I was able to make some modifications that taken care of the floating liner issue. The first was I strategically placed some decent size rocks in the bottom of the pond, about 6 of them, my lillies and cypress tree also help keep the liner down as they are in pots and weigh quite a bit. Then a few years back we received 10" in of rain within a few days and it began to bulge out on the sides where the rocks weren't. So to fix this I dug down about 12" on the low side of my pond and installed some drain tile that is up against the liner and drains out into the yard. This has allowed any water that does get under the liner to drain out, and I have not had any problems since. If and when I do redo my pond I would raise the pond up about one foot from where it is today and install some drain tile under the liner as another precaution.

 

[CountryEscape]

Still waiting to see pics of after the digging machine was used! LOL Hope you get your drainage issue figured out. I always thought my yard too level to drain anything, but water will drain with just 1" of drop, so I have learned how to drain it.

 

[j.w]

Yep we are waiting for more progress reports and pix killerbren

 

[UPEngineer]

Yep, need more pictures because you have given me some ideas for my new pond design. Come on now