Whew, no leak, but...

[Malak]

I got some bad advice from a pond liner guy who told me that putting a pond in a low lying area should be no problem because the liner would act like a "big boulder". I was not concerned too much about surface runoff because I don't use fertilizer or mulch anywhere near it. Also, not having koi, but more natural local species. So after people jumped all over me and I saw the liner bulging, I knew they were correct. The water is trickling in on top of the clay layer. I was able to put a pump about 2 feet down between the liner and the underlayment and pumped most of it out but the clay layer started slouching into the hole
on the downstream side. Do you guys think this will reach a point where it will stop or will the hole slowly fill in over time? I want to know how attached I should allow us to get to the current location. I will move it eventually if it does not work out.

Anyways, regarding the "leak"... I had desgned my own decorative biofilter and made an acrylic sealed box for the inside, but some of the water was trickling out the edges around the front of the acrylic liner enough to really add up and I was losing an inch per 8 hours. Yesterday, I managed to use a trimmed liner piece to prevent that and direct the vast majority of flow over the waterfall rock. This morning no drop!

I also lowered the water enough that I was able to protect the underliner pump in a perforated rounded edge tray near the bottom and put an extra piece of liner under the cinderblocks for the fountain.

 

[Malak]

Forgot to mention that I put 50 feet of perforated flex drainage pipe in a moat around the pond for surface water. Not sure it will help much though.

 

[addy1]

Everything you do will help! Can you by any chance divert the small stream bed around the pond? dig a small stream bed to flow down and around

 

[sissy]

I have clay soil and even around the bottom of my pond I put perforated pipe with a soak that was filled with styrofoam beads and I have had no problems yet .Hope you solved yours

 

[Malak]

Sissy - So the pipe is drained or pumped out?

Addy - there is not enough flow for a "stream". Maybe if I had an attractive aquaduct or one filled with
attractive pond pebbles.

 

[sissy]

the sump pump I put in the bottom of the barrel and all I do is keep pond pump going and put water hose in the top of the barrel to flush gunk in filters down, plug in sump pump and pump the gunk up and out of the hose I attached to the sump pump and gunk comes out .When I see it running a little clear then I turn off pump and put hose back up so water does not continue flowing out from sump pump .Then I just put my water hose I was using in the pond to add water to it .

 

[j.w]

Got it sissy :banana: