Water loss

[jimbo]

I have a 6500 gallon pond. I seem to be losing a lot more water this summer than I have in past summers. I can find no evidence of a leak anywhere. I do have a lot of plants in my pond and bog. Does anyone have an idea about how much water will evaporate through plants in ponds?

 

[texastkc]

I don't know. I'm still struggling to find where I'm losing water in mine. I know that you get more evaporation with more water splash and spray and that some plants can take up a lot of water (when I was researching about my banana tree, I read that one can drink up to a gallon a day). My instinct (not researched fact) is that large leaf plants like elephant ears probably take up more water, especially in high heat times.

 

[Mmathis]

I don’t know the formulas for calculating loss through evaporation, but there is such a thing. Keep in mind that this summer has started out to be a brutal one, and it wouldn’t surprise me a bit if your loss was from evaporation, transpiration, or that and a combination of other related factors.

Plants can suck up a LOT of water, especially with the heat. Now, I don’t know if there is a formula for figuring out the rate of transpiration in plants, but, but I’m sure someone out there has a way to calculate this.

 

[jimbo]

Thanks for your comments. We’ve had an unusually mild winter here in Northern California, although windy. In years past I’ve had significant water loss and went around the pond liner and found numerous routes from acacia trees had grown over the liner and end of the water. When I severed those, the acute water loss stopped. This summer I am losing 100 to 120 gallon a day , not cool here in California! I have turned the water pump off overnight and had no loss and water, so it’s not a leak. I do have two waterfalls that drop 3 feet into the pond, but they have been the same for the last 10 years. I did pull out a bunch of uninvited plants that must’ve come in with other plant purchases. I guess I,ll irrigate less and use my precious water on my “ precious koi”.

 

[WaterGardener]

I was just looking into this and found this site yesterday. Maybe it can be of some help.

How Much Water Does A Pond Lose To Evaporation?

How much water does a pond lose to evaporation? Is your pond losing water? Is it evaporation or do you have a leak? The process below will help you answer the question: How much water should my pond lose to evaporation? Average Evaporation On average a water feature will lose ½% to 1% of the...

willowridgegardencenter.com

 

[brokensword]

if you turned your pumps off and had no loss, my money is on a waterfall leak. Isolate the pond from the falls and see if you still have a leak when the water is ONLY circulating in the pond. If no leak, for sure you have to look at your waterfall/plumbing to waterfall. MOST leaks tend to be in this area.

 

[Lisak1]

MOST leaks tend to be in this area.

100% agree with this. And most aren't "leaks" in the classic sense but more likely somewhere that an edge got lowered or a rock moved. We have to watch the plants in the waterfall to make sure they aren't diverting water out of the pond.

 

[jimbo]

Thanks for your comments. We’ve had an unusually mild winter here in Northern California, although windy. In years past I’ve had significant water loss and went around the pond liner and found numerous routes from acacia trees had grown over the liner and end of the water. When I severed those, the acute water loss stopped. This summer I am losing 100 to 120 gallon a day , not cool here in California! I have turned the water pump off overnight and had no loss and water, so it’s not a leak. I do have two waterfalls that drop 3 feet into the pond, but they have been the same for the last 10 years. I did pull out a bunch of uninvited plants that must’ve come in with other plant purchases. I guess I,ll irrigate less and use my precious water on my “ precious koi”.

thank you for all of your input regarding my water loss. Over the last week I have experimented with trial and error and found the cause. About 10 years ago I planted a fern outside of the liner which has subsequently grown over the liner and into the pond. There is quite a large root mass associated with that. But growing through that fern word tree roots from acacia trees about 20 feet away that were unseen until I pulled out this fern. I have had a little to no water loss since.
so I think I have answered my first question in my first posting, and that how much water do plants in the pond take out of the pond. I think my answer to that is plants with in the pond don’t use much water but plants outside of the pond that grow over the liner and into the pond really take a lot of water.

 

[Lisak1]

plants outside of the pond that grow over the liner and into the pond really take a lot of water.

Ah! Good point! I've also had plants that breach the liner from inside the pond, over the top of the liner into the ground on the other side. In the process, they push the liner down just enough that water is able to find it's way over the edge. It's amazing how much you can lose a few drops at a time!

 

[IPA]

It’s so hot here. I only have 350 gallon pond and I am loosing about 15 gallons every 2 days, probably more. I am not surprised that anyone with a decent sized pond isn’t loosing 5 to 10 percent in a couple of days.

pS: I don’t think we have received more than 1/4 inch of rain in 3 weeks of 90 plus degree temperatures.

 

[addy1]

I add water every day, the hot tub pond drops about 3ish inches in around 4 days. Been so darn hot.