Pond Level dropping

[Danconfessed]

Hi all,

Moved into a property in October that has a medium size pond. Its part sunk, part risen in brickwork. Height is about 2ft from the ground, 2ft under.
Ive cut back a LOT of the foliage and conifers around the pond and all looks fine. However the water level randomly drop a few inches. Its not a consistent drop which would indicate a leak. It will bve fine for two weeks then suddenly over night drop 3-4 inches. I thought it might be the old pump/ filter so I bought a brand new pump and filter and run it seperatly to the old one but it still keeps doing it.

Any ideas?

I really love the pond/ fish/ running water but im on a water meter so dont have the luxury of keep topping it up.

Thanks

Dan

 

[sissy]

Do you have things like deer drinking from the pond ,Have you checked the hoses .I used to get 5 or 6 deer drinking from my pond at night .

 

[Big Lou]

Sounds like a leak.

 

[Troutredds]

Welcome to the forum, @Danconfessed! Perhaps cutting back the foliage exposed the pond to added sunlight. Evaporation as a result of radiant sun exposure could very well account for the drop.

 

[sissy]

I don't understand the overnight drop .Could a plant be wicking water up out of the pond some how .Maybe when you cut them back a piece layed over .Could you have disturbed some of the rocks on top of the liner and mushed them down and some water is leaking out from between them .I imagine you were walking around the edge of the pond could loosen things up or if you pulled a root out you could have done the same thing

 

[DrCase]

It's not a normal leak
A Plant or wind would be my guess

 

[j.w]

Dan

 

[Dave 54]

Hi all,

Moved into a property in October that has a medium size pond. Its part sunk, part risen in brickwork. Height is about 2ft from the ground, 2ft under.
Ive cut back a LOT of the foliage and conifers around the pond and all looks fine. However the water level randomly drop a few inches. Its not a consistent drop which would indicate a leak. It will bve fine for two weeks then suddenly over night drop 3-4 inches. I thought it might be the old pump/ filter so I bought a brand new pump and filter and run it seperatly to the old one but it still keeps doing it.

Any ideas?

I really love the pond/ fish/ running water but im on a water meter so dont have the luxury of keep topping it up.

Thanks

Dan

Hi Dan where in the UK are you from Please , here were we are n the Southwest we have the highest water bills going many ae on water meters others like myself are lucky in that they cant fit the darn thngs, but a water meter shouldnt exclude you from having a pond no far from t my friend........
There are other ways of collecting water for water changes like collecting it in water butts where you can keep it aireated 24/7 until use .
What your more than probably seeing is evaporaion which in reality there's not alott you can do about it .
Have you acctually looked into buying a water meter working out how much you use to do a water change and work out how much one wold cost you from there ?
When we first built our pond we employed a water meter to see exactly how many gallons imperial our pond was it equated to 1, 000 gallons.......

Dave

 

[Danconfessed]

Hi all,

Thank you for your welcomes and replies. I to am baffled. It has been over a week now and no dropping at all, bu i know within a few days it will suddenly drop a few inches overnight. My first thought is a root pierced the liner and now i have disturbed the roots it is seeping out from there. why only at night? i have no idea. it may be doing it during the day but im only noticing the big drop after 8- hours (overnight)

Im thinking of taking it all out, re lining and putting it back again. Can anyone recommend the best way to do this and the best products etc to use. I will try and upload a picture later

Dan

 

[sissy]

Seems strange at night .That is why I thought animals .Have you looked at hoses .Not sure your temps there but if it freezes or thaws at night the ground will shift .I just did mine and it was no fun last year .March and I gave my self 2 days to pull liner and dig pond bigger take out plant shelves and put in new liner and I was lucky I got it done in 1 day .Was hard work that I wish on no one .

 

[Danconfessed]

My liner actually goes behind a course of bricks nearer the top so its going to be a nightmare to take out and re-fit!

 

[j.w]

What happens if you don't refill it and just see how far it will drop down? If it stops dropping at one level finally then you must have a hole right at that level. Check out all along that level on the liner very carefully using your hands to feel and put your glasses on or use a magnifying glass. If it keeps going down way low then you will know the problem is deeper and maybe even on the bottom. Do you have somewhere else you can keep the fish till you figure this out?