typical water loss

[damian]

how often do you usually have to add water to your pond? I am more or less done with construction now, and I have gradually eliminated all obvious leak problems (e.g., liner being pushed down by rocks in some places, splashing off rocks at the bottom of the waterfall, etc). however, i'm not sure how much water i should be expected to lose in normal use. i ran it for about 24 hours straight this weekend to get an idea of where i'm at, and it looks like i lost about 1/8" of water (pond is about 5000 gallons), but i can't tell if that's from all the sun we had, or another water loss problem i still need to resolve.

 

[Waterbug]

Here in Phoenix it's a bit different from say England. No idea where you're located.

To test a straight sided container is filled with water is set in the pond or stream. The loss of evaporation will be basically the same in both the container and pond.

 

[damian]

also, is it possible to lose water to rocks that are below or at water level overlapping the liner (i.e., can water travel along the bottom of the rock outside of the liner, even though the outside edge of the rock is above the water level)? sometimes i will lift up a rock along the liner to double check, and there is wetness there, but i can't tell whether it is from pond water or just collected water from rain or whatever.

 

[damian]

i will add that my pond is in full sunlight exposure for more or less the entire day.

 

[ididntdoit99]

I'd do what waterbug said, fill a 5 gallon bucket, set it in the pond if you can or next to it, and see how much that evaporates in a few days.

 

[damian]

i should've searched better, there are a bunch of threads on this topic :redface:

 

[HARO]

Yes, water can travel between the liner and a rock. It's called capillary action, and can wick water into the surrounding soil.
John

 

[damian]

yeah i just read this in another thread. it looks like i'm going to have to do some rock rearranging! you can see where this is a possible issue in my upper pool at about the :45 mark:

eta also about the 1:10 mark. my topmost river rocks overlap the ones below them that are in the water. they are probably pulling water back outside of the liner.

 

[Waterbug]

Given how high the water fall pool is I'd assume, if there actually is a leak, it would be there. I'd turn off the falls and see what the pond does.

With the amount of rock you have on the sides I hope there was a concrete footer under them?

 

[addy1]

Here in md, strange low humidity, high winds, I lose about 1.5 inches in a week. A lot of surface area between the bog and the pond. When our humidity goes up, a lot less loss. We have had weird weather like a lot have had. Hot march cold dry april.

I have tons, 3.7 tons to be exact of rock on the uphill side of our pond, no concrete, no movement, no settling, snow, rain, ice.

 

[damian]

Given how high the water fall pool is I'd assume, if there actually is a leak, it would be there. I'd turn off the falls and see what the pond does.

With the amount of rock you have on the sides I hope there was a concrete footer under them?

That is not all rock, it is an optical illusion

 

[Waterbug]

That is not all rock, it is an optical illusion

A very nicely done illusion.

 

[damian]

I did a lot of reading!