waterfall/pond newbie looking for advice

[clubber]

I had a waterfall and pond installed last summer. the installer told me i could lose up to 1/2 inch of poind water a day in very hot conditions. the daily high's are mid to high 70s and i am losing a bit over approx. an inch a day (i measure every day, losing about a half inch at night and a half inch in the day). waterfall is about 8 feet and is in partial shade. I belive the pump is a 6000 gals per hour pump with a 2 inch line. pond is about 2 and half feet deep and about 5 feet by 7 feet of surface water. the waterfall feature has the water running outside and behind the rocks and there is sythetic rock looking materials pumped in all over the place to try to control the flow but does seem to be as effective. (as a benchmark i have a built in swimming pool that loses about a half inch per month due to evaporation and slash in conditions like this) I am trying ot figure out if there is a leak somewhere that can't be seen. Does this pond water loss and size of the pump make sense?

 

[koidaddy]

Welcome to GPF! One thing you could do is set a container in or real close to the pond that is 1/2 full of water and mark the water line. After 24 hours see how much has evaporated. You will loose water from splash at the waterfall also. Hope this helps.

 

[taherrmann4]

Welcome!

My pond surface area is about twice the size as yours with about a 5' waterfall that is 12' long and a creek that is 18" wide and 25' long and I lose about 1/4" per day in the really hot part of the summer. However I am on a hill and it is almost constantly windy so I lose quite a bit from the spray off the waterfall blowing onto the rocks next to it. When I first built it I also had direct sunlight for the etire day with my waterfall facing south and now It is shaded for about 50% of the day thanks to my trees finally getting bigger. Losing an inch per day right now seems a bit much seeing how you arent even in the dog days of summer. Does your area around your pond seem wetter than the rest of your yard? Look around the entire length of the waterfall and be sure the water is not running over and outside the liner anywhere.

Good Luck

 

[lenny jewell]

what are the humidity percentages in your area?

 

[addy1]

With my stream, waterfalls, ponds, all in full sun I don't lose that much water. I would look for wet areas around your waterfall and piping.

 

[fishin4cars]

[(as a benchmark i have a built in swimming pool that loses about a half inch per month due to evaporation and slash in conditions like this) I am trying ot figure out if there is a leak somewhere that can't be seen. Does this pond water loss and size of the pump make sense?[/QUOTE]

here is the key! A pond, pool, bucket, all should be losing close to the same amount of evaperation per day, of course the larger the surface area the more evaporation and waterfalls and streams can add to it also but if your losing that much in the pond and not in other areas that hold water it's possible you have a slow leak. Moist areas around the stream and water fall are key areas of interst along with areas wher pipe connections are made.

 

[KennethO]

Did the installer put a liner behind the waterfall rocks that runs into the pond? Or just stack the rocks and spray in the sealing foam? Is there a waterfall filter at the top of the falls (looks like a bucket almost) or is the hose just lodged in between the rocks?

If the hose is just setting in the rocks then it might have been dislodged. Any water lost between the rocks around the falls should just flow back in the pond if they put a liner behind it.

 

[addy1]

The expanding foam weeps, so if no liner it will weep water behind the rocks. I found that out on one build lol. Pulled it down and added a wider piece of liner.

and Welcome to the group!