Please help - Building pond - Water under liner

Hello.

I have dug a pond in my back yard, and am having some problems with it
- I could use any advice you may have. Here are the details:

The back yard is on a slight slope, and there are other yards from our
neighbor's homes that are at slightly higher ground than our yard. I
dug the hole approximately 12' by 12' by 3' deep, and had to build a
slight retaining wall on the lower side of the pond so that it would
be level all around. I put the liner in, and filled the bottom of the
pond with river rock and slightly larger stones (about 3" round).

The major problem that I am having is that there is water buildup
underneath the liner. The way I discovered this is because I put the
liner in the hole, and covered the bottom of the pond with rocks, but
did not fill the pond with water. A day later, the liner of the pond
had bubbled up because of water having collected under the liner!!!

Where did the water come from? Who knows! There has been no rain for
days, and we are in the middle of summer, so it has been hot. My
guess is that people have been watering their yards, and I have water
from the ground collecting where I have dug my pond hole. The strange
thing is that my yard is not normally wet, and my grass is quite dry,
which tells me that the water is collecting underneath the ground.

There is no hole in my liner, as I am not getting any water come above
my liner from underneath.

Does anyone have any ideas on what I can do to deal with this problem?
What if I were to just fill the pond, in the hopes that the water
under the liner would just dissipate back into the ground. One more
thing, the ground is a very hard clay, and is not very soft or easy to
dig.

If I dug another hole at a level lower than my pond, and filled it in
with rocks, is there any chance that the water might migrate to this
other hole?

I am looking for an inexpensive solution, if at all possible.

Thanks in advance,

Faruk

On 6 Jul 2004 00:24:37 -0700, (Frank)
wrote:

Hello.

I have dug a pond in my back yard, and am having some problems with it
- I could use any advice you may have. Here are the details:

The back yard is on a slight slope, and there are other yards from our
neighbor's homes that are at slightly higher ground than our yard. I
dug the hole approximately 12' by 12' by 3' deep, and had to build a
slight retaining wall on the lower side of the pond so that it would
be level all around. I put the liner in, and filled the bottom of the
pond with river rock and slightly larger stones (about 3" round).

The major problem that I am having is that there is water buildup
underneath the liner. The way I discovered this is because I put the
liner in the hole, and covered the bottom of the pond with rocks, but
did not fill the pond with water. A day later, the liner of the pond
had bubbled up because of water having collected under the liner!!!

Where did the water come from? Who knows! There has been no rain for
days, and we are in the middle of summer, so it has been hot. My
guess is that people have been watering their yards, and I have water
from the ground collecting where I have dug my pond hole. The strange
thing is that my yard is not normally wet, and my grass is quite dry,
which tells me that the water is collecting underneath the ground.

There is no hole in my liner, as I am not getting any water come above
my liner from underneath.

Does anyone have any ideas on what I can do to deal with this problem?
What if I were to just fill the pond, in the hopes that the water
under the liner would just dissipate back into the ground. One more
thing, the ground is a very hard clay, and is not very soft or easy to
dig.

If I dug another hole at a level lower than my pond, and filled it in
with rocks, is there any chance that the water might migrate to this
other hole?

I am looking for an inexpensive solution, if at all possible.

Thanks in advance,

Faruk

I would ignore it. The only time it might cause a problem is when you
don't have water in your pond. If you have water in it, and the rocks
you mentioned, the inside of the pond will weigh more than the outside
and keep the external water from having any effect.

If you wanted to make a small well adjacent to the pond, and pump out
any water that accumulates there, you could, but I don't see it as
necessary. It might be a source of water for your lawn if you can use
that.


--

- Charles
-
-does not play well with others

You could have......
Discovered a spring....Dug below the water table... Hit a waterline?
There are many pond books out there and most of them show this situation in
detail...You could either install a sump pump under the pond or just a
french drain to channel the water out....
I would.....
Pull the liner out and get the water out of the clay bowl you dug and see
how much water and how long it takes to fill in..
If you suspect the irrigation of your neighbors is the culprit, (I don't
think its likley) then you need to build up around the higher end to make
the water channel around and past the hole....If you hit an underground
spring, you don't need a liner....You will definately have a pond, so you
would need to channel excess water out with an overflow system....I've seen
this before....Your lillies will love the clay so no need for pots, and yes
the water will clear up in a short time.. Koi like clay also...You could
call yourself lucky, a lot of people pay big bucks for the clays and chem's
you will have naturally...

Response to "ignore it"...I have been weak in the knees with laughter upon
seeing a preformed pond floating like a battleship, full of water, fountain
running, underwater lights on, because the owner nicked an irrigation
line....Also a moderately large (18x24x3) 45 mil liner with an island of
water in the middle because of a spring...The large rockery in the middle
had mostly tumbled to the sides, except for one defiant 2'x2' rock sitting
on the top with a bullfrog on top...I mean stinking hilarious. Hydraulics is
a science....Do not leave it... Water is only 8.something pounds per
gal...There is hydraulic pressure underground you would not believe coming
from any water source.....Do It Right....

Frank wrote:
Hello.

I have dug a pond in my back yard, and am having some problems with it
- I could use any advice you may have. Here are the details:

The back yard is on a slight slope, and there are other yards from our
neighbor's homes that are at slightly higher ground than our yard. I
dug the hole approximately 12' by 12' by 3' deep, and had to build a
slight retaining wall on the lower side of the pond so that it would
be level all around. I put the liner in, and filled the bottom of the
pond with river rock and slightly larger stones (about 3" round).

The major problem that I am having is that there is water buildup
underneath the liner. The way I discovered this is because I put the
liner in the hole, and covered the bottom of the pond with rocks, but
did not fill the pond with water. A day later, the liner of the pond
had bubbled up because of water having collected under the liner!!!

Where did the water come from? Who knows! There has been no rain for
days, and we are in the middle of summer, so it has been hot. My
guess is that people have been watering their yards, and I have water
from the ground collecting where I have dug my pond hole. The strange
thing is that my yard is not normally wet, and my grass is quite dry,
which tells me that the water is collecting underneath the ground.

There is no hole in my liner, as I am not getting any water come above
my liner from underneath.

Does anyone have any ideas on what I can do to deal with this problem?
What if I were to just fill the pond, in the hopes that the water
under the liner would just dissipate back into the ground. One more
thing, the ground is a very hard clay, and is not very soft or easy to
dig.

If I dug another hole at a level lower than my pond, and filled it in
with rocks, is there any chance that the water might migrate to this
other hole?

I am looking for an inexpensive solution, if at all possible.

Thanks in advance,

Faruk

Hello Faruk,
Congratulations on the decision to have a pond! May I
suggest that you put a berm around the pond. Since your
yard is on a slope you'll have to deal with runoff from your
neighbors yards. By adding a berm you'll prevent this from
happening.
If you decide that you need to drain water away from your
pond, use a french drain. You simply dig a channel away
from the pond to a hole that you dig. Then add rock to
fill. This will give the water a place to flow to - it may
not be necessary but if the problem continues it is a solution.

--
Bonnie
NJ

"Frank" wrote in message
om...
snip
The major problem that I am having is that there is water buildup
underneath the liner. The way I discovered this is because I put the
liner in the hole, and covered the bottom of the pond with rocks, but
did not fill the pond with water. A day later, the liner of the pond
had bubbled up because of water having collected under the liner!!!
snip

When liners raise up, it is typically from run off, but it sounds like you
have ruled that out. If the water is persistent, there are options. Some
ponders have installed sump under their pond to pump the water out, but I
think that may be overkill. I'd recommend simply running some 1 inch PVC
from the low spot under the liner and have it end somewhere downhill from
the pond. This way as water builds it will have a place to escape, and won't
push your liner up.

BV.

"Frank" wrote in message
om...
Hello.

I have dug a pond in my back yard, and am having some problems with it
- I could use any advice you may have. Here are the details:

The back yard is on a slight slope, and there are other yards from our
neighbor's homes that are at slightly higher ground than our yard. I
dug the hole approximately 12' by 12' by 3' deep, and had to build a
slight retaining wall on the lower side of the pond so that it would
be level all around. I put the liner in, and filled the bottom of the
pond with river rock and slightly larger stones (about 3" round).

The major problem that I am having is that there is water buildup
underneath the liner. The way I discovered this is because I put the
liner in the hole, and covered the bottom of the pond with rocks, but
did not fill the pond with water. A day later, the liner of the pond
had bubbled up because of water having collected under the liner!!!

Where did the water come from? Who knows! There has been no rain for
days, and we are in the middle of summer, so it has been hot. My
guess is that people have been watering their yards, and I have water
from the ground collecting where I have dug my pond hole. The strange
thing is that my yard is not normally wet, and my grass is quite dry,
which tells me that the water is collecting underneath the ground.

There is no hole in my liner, as I am not getting any water come above
my liner from underneath.

Groundwater would be my guess. Sounds like its really shallow as well.

Does anyone have any ideas on what I can do to deal with this problem?
What if I were to just fill the pond, in the hopes that the water
under the liner would just dissipate back into the ground. One more
thing, the ground is a very hard clay, and is not very soft or easy to
dig.

If I dug another hole at a level lower than my pond, and filled it in
with rocks, is there any chance that the water might migrate to this
other hole?

I am looking for an inexpensive solution, if at all possible.

Thanks in advance,

Faruk

Can anyone spell "French drain"? Adapt the concept for you pond.

http://www.repair-home.com/how_to/cr...ench_drain.htm

http://www.gardenadvice.co.uk/howto/...d/frenchdrain/

http://www.growinglifestyle.com/us/h...ain/index.html