troubleshooting leaks

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we just moved into a house with a lovely 1000 gallon pond out back, with a waterfall and skimmer and two giant frogs and a handful of goldfish. its definitely a few years old? when we got it, it was completely defunct and i have spent the past 6 months learning all about it. happily it seems really well balanced and the water quality has been fairly good throughout.

after clearing back and repotting all the overgrown irises, and doing a water change, we started running the skimmer every day. i noticed immediately that the water level would fall quickly when the skimmer ran, and recaulked a spot in the waterfall where water was getting in between the liner and the basin. then i noticed we had a slow leak down to the second set of screws on the skimmer faceplate. spent last weekend re-screwing and glueing the skimmer faceplate, filled up the pond and was excited to have a gorgeous, full pond!

i was hoping to spend my time figuring out how to repair the non-functional fountain, but... the water has dropped by two inches this week. i thought it might be the faceplate again but it seems like the water level drops when the skimmer is running, not when it is off. what on earth could it be? and what is the next step? should i hire a professional at this point, and is that sort of thing very expensive? or keep on going?
 

Meyer Jordan

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If you have a biofalls filter, depending on manufacturer, there may be a leak around the weir plate. Most leaks are usually around the waterfall and stream.
 

Mmathis

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Hello and welcome!

Does your skimmer go to a fall? [well, just re-read, and you do] If the skimmer doesn't seem to be the problem, I'd check out the falls again, as that's where a lot of leaks happen.
 
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Fill your pond, don't run anything, and see if it leaks. If it doesn't, then turn on the skimmer. If it leaks, then try to reroute the line from your skimmer to just go back into the pond. If the water level stays stable, then the leak may be between the skimmer and the outlet. I have had numerous leaks in the waterfall area, mainly because the bottom "pool" area before it overflows into the pond had sides that settled and the water was flowing over the edge. Check all edges of the pond, too. Sometimes plants grow next to the edge, and their roots reroute the water over the edge. Good luck! Oh, and IMO, don't hire someone, you will figure it out, and then you will know more about your pond at the same time. :)
 

addy1

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We have been hot, windy, low humidity, my pond is dropping around an inch a day sometimes more, no leaks. I do have a lot of surface area, the water just gets sucked out by the sun, the wind the way nature works.

Also when I run my stream my pond drops in level. Where does the water in you skimmer go to? back into the pond or ? Does it fill a area that drains back into the pond when it is not running? Once I turn off my stream my pond refills the two inches it dropped.

Don't hire someone, keep picking away at it. You learn a lot that way. Your skimmer lines can you check them? Mine is external the lines are 2 inch pvc. You might have a crack in one of those lines.
 

Meyer Jordan

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We have been hot, windy, low humidity, my pond is dropping around an inch a day sometimes more, no leaks. I do have a lot of surface area, the water just gets sucked out by the sun, the wind the way nature works.

Also when I run my stream my pond drops in level. Where does the water in you skimmer go to? back into the pond or ? Does it fill a area that drains back into the pond when it is not running? Once I turn off my stream my pond refills the two inches it dropped.

Don't hire someone, keep picking away at it. You learn a lot that way. Your skimmer lines can you check them? Mine is external the lines are 2 inch pvc. You might have a crack in one of those lines.

Addy1's post brings up a subject that is often overlooked when it comes to suspected leaks.
When there are multiple inter-connected ponds at different levels and/or a sizeable stream, the water loss from evapo-transpiration only manifests itself in the lowest pond. This is because the the pump(s) are constantly maintaining the desired levels in all of the other pond and/or stream. So what seems like a huge water loss in the lowest pond may be actually quite normal. It is just the cumulative loss of all of the connected water surfaces.
 

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