- Joined
- Nov 19, 2020
- Messages
- 149
- Reaction score
- 129
- Location
- North West New Jersey
- Hardiness Zone
- 6a
- Country
first and foremost you have a beautiful pond set up.
finding leaks are frustrating and we always look to the worst case scenario. we all hope it's a simple fix for you.
what I see is a lot of water agitation between the were water enters the system and falls back to the pond. I'm assuming when you shut down the falls that includes the return stream also.
temperature inversion and agitation equals evaporation. anytime pond water get a few degrees above ambient temperatures you have evaporation ie outside temp 30-40 deg and pond water 40 and above.
cold water contracts and when it freezes it will expand.
Is there a way to look for wet spots?
sometimes you can use a length of rebar and push it in the ground where you might think a leak is possible, if the rebar is moist/wet when you pull it out, you know where to investigate further. do NOT use a hammer to drive the rebar in. Usually wet/moist spots are some what softer.
Foot note: the reason to use rebar is that it has knurls that would catch and hold wet dirt as were a smooth piece of round stock would wipe clean when removing it.
I went BAT shit crazy looking for water loss and like you shut down the system and found none. I was loosing up to 75-100gal in 2 days. I was thinking I cavitated one of my underground pipes, come to find out the hard way "cold water contracts" even in the coldest temps I still have evaporation. as soon as the weather settled down and stopped drastic swings my water loss went away.
I hope this gives you some kinda insight.
please keep us posted on your finding. we are always here to help and are sympathetic to your frustrations.
finding leaks are frustrating and we always look to the worst case scenario. we all hope it's a simple fix for you.
what I see is a lot of water agitation between the were water enters the system and falls back to the pond. I'm assuming when you shut down the falls that includes the return stream also.
temperature inversion and agitation equals evaporation. anytime pond water get a few degrees above ambient temperatures you have evaporation ie outside temp 30-40 deg and pond water 40 and above.
cold water contracts and when it freezes it will expand.
Is there a way to look for wet spots?
sometimes you can use a length of rebar and push it in the ground where you might think a leak is possible, if the rebar is moist/wet when you pull it out, you know where to investigate further. do NOT use a hammer to drive the rebar in. Usually wet/moist spots are some what softer.
Foot note: the reason to use rebar is that it has knurls that would catch and hold wet dirt as were a smooth piece of round stock would wipe clean when removing it.
I went BAT shit crazy looking for water loss and like you shut down the system and found none. I was loosing up to 75-100gal in 2 days. I was thinking I cavitated one of my underground pipes, come to find out the hard way "cold water contracts" even in the coldest temps I still have evaporation. as soon as the weather settled down and stopped drastic swings my water loss went away.
I hope this gives you some kinda insight.
please keep us posted on your finding. we are always here to help and are sympathetic to your frustrations.
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