Leaking pond

[PACurry]

I have recently moved in to a new house and have inherited a pond 8ft x
6ft x 4ft deep.
The pond is constructed of cement/brick and I have noticed that the
water level is dropping by some 4 inches overnight and then levels out,
obviously a leak. I can't find a leak and therefore I intend to re-seal
the pond, can you tell me what is the best/safest sealer to use as I
can't remove the fish whilst doing it as there are about 35 of them and
storage is a problem!
Thanks


--
PACurry

[Crashj]

On Mon, 18 Oct 2004 09:33:38 +0100, PACurry
> wrote:
>I have recently moved in to a new house and have inherited a pond 8ft x
>6ft x 4ft deep.
>The pond is constructed of cement/brick and I have noticed that the
>water level is dropping by some 4 inches overnight and then levels out,
>obviously a leak.

Once the leak lowers the level to a hole and then the rate of loss
drops off, you will have established the aproximate depth of the
leaks. Add enough water to raise the pond level back up an inch or so.
Move around the pond with a dropper and use milk to track where the
flow passes through the wall. You can patch with any number of cements
or expoxies which work when wet.
Ultimately you may be forced to empty the pond and line it with EPDM
rubber or some other resealing technique.

--
Crashj

[Ann in Houston]

>
> Once the leak lowers the level to a hole and then the rate of loss
> drops off, you will have established the aproximate depth of the
> leaks. Add enough water to raise the pond level back up an inch or so.
> Move around the pond with a dropper and use milk to track where the
> flow passes through the wall. You can patch with any number of cements
> or expoxies which work when wet.
> Ultimately you may be forced to empty the pond and line it with EPDM
> rubber or some other resealing technique.
>
> --
> Crashj

Believe it or not, I had a leak that I couldn't locate with all the tried
and true methods that actually defied this very sensible logic. The leak
was on the very bottom of the pond, but the level only dropped eight or nine
inches and then would level off. We can only guess that it had to do with
the ground being saturated already. We patched it yesterday (without
draining the pond, would you believe?!) and once the resulting bubble under
the liner was pressed down by the newly added water, enough ground water was
forced up, that the driveway looked like we left the hose running all night.
I hope the leak in the concrete pond isn't like that because he won't be
able to grab the bubbled-up liner and dry it off for patching. Instead, he
will actually have to drain the pond.
The weird thing was that the bubble flattened out gradually, and the water
level actually fell again as the displacement went away, leading me to
believe that we had yet another leak that so far wasn't detected.

[bk]

"Crashj" > wrote in message
...
> On Mon, 18 Oct 2004 09:33:38 +0100, PACurry
> > wrote:
>>I have recently moved in to a new house and have inherited a pond 8ft x
>>6ft x 4ft deep.
>>The pond is constructed of cement/brick and I have noticed that the
>>water level is dropping by some 4 inches overnight and then levels out,
>>obviously a leak.
>
You can patch with any number of cements
> or expoxies which work when wet.

Hydrolic cement can work when wet, but is that safe for the fish?

[Stephen M. Henning]

"bk" > wrote:

> >>obviously a leak.
> >
> You can patch with any number of cements
> > or expoxies which work when wet.
>
> Hydrolic cement can work when wet, but is that safe for the fish?

It is spelled hydraulic cement, more commonly called concrete or mortar.

Hydraulic cement, a cement or mortar made of hydraulic lime, which will
harden under water.

Hydraulic lime, quicklime obtained from hydraulic limestone, and used
for cementing under water, etc.

Hydraulic limestone, a limestone which contains some clay, and which
yields a quicklime that will set, or form a firm, strong mass, under
water.

Concrete, a strong hard building material composed of sand and gravel
and hydraulic cement and water.

[Crashj]

On or about Wed, 20 Oct 2004 17:46:46 -0400, "Stephen M. Henning"
> was seen typing:

>"bk" > wrote:
>
>> >>obviously a leak.
>> >
>> You can patch with any number of cements
>> > or expoxies which work when wet.
>>
>> Hydrolic cement can work when wet, but is that safe for the fish?
>
>It is spelled hydraulic cement, more commonly called concrete or mortar.
>
>Hydraulic cement, a cement or mortar made of hydraulic lime, which will
>harden under water.
>
>Hydraulic lime, quicklime obtained from hydraulic limestone, and used
>for cementing under water, etc.
>
>Hydraulic limestone, a limestone which contains some clay, and which
>yields a quicklime that will set, or form a firm, strong mass, under
>water.
>
>Concrete, a strong hard building material composed of sand and gravel
>and hydraulic cement and water.

And since you will have the level lowered beolw the leak, mostly, it
will not be a problem unless you are adding huge amounts.
--
Crashj