Help... finding a leak in a pond.

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mickeyboy

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Help... finding a leak in a pond.
« on: March 30, 2010, 21:54 »
Hi there i bought a new pond liner and it keeps losing the top 6 inches of water. It obviously has a leak and i was wondering wether anyone had any bright ideas about how i can find and plug this leak easily??? :(
It is in a meter tall raised pond.

Cheers
Mickeyboy :)
new to this, so all help and advice is greatly appreciated and well needed!!

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sunshineband

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Re: Help... finding a leak in a pond.
« Reply #1 on: March 30, 2010, 21:57 »
I can only suggest you let it drain down to the level where the leak must be and then scrutinise it minutely all around the water line.

The hole must be visible in some way, maybe with extra dirt traped on it.

You can then dry that bit out by baling out some more water to creat a larger area over which you can patch.

Good luck  :D
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Slowgrind

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Re: Help... finding a leak in a pond.
« Reply #2 on: March 31, 2010, 09:17 »
The leak will be at the level of the drained pond. The smallest puncture will eventually allow the water level to drop. Can you pull the liner forward to look for the wet spot where the water escapes to? If not bail the water out to a couple of inches below the leak level and look and feel for the puncture. Repair with a patch of liner and mastic.
Leaks can be a real pain! Don't give up!

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sunshineband

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Re: Help... finding a leak in a pond.
« Reply #3 on: March 31, 2010, 11:54 »
Yes  ;) ;) ;)

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Steven Rowe

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Re: Help... finding a leak in a pond.
« Reply #4 on: April 03, 2010, 12:35 »
What type of liner is it youve got ? did you fit under lay under the liner ? the patch and mastic patch dont last that long to behonst , ive been building water features for over 7years now and find the only way to sort a hole is to weld a patch on , which is like doing a large bike inner tube repair, the area has to be dry , preped, roughed, glued , ive joined huge liners together like this and it works very well if done right , this can only be done on Firestone and Butyl Pond Liners.

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mickeyboy

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Re: Help... finding a leak in a pond.
« Reply #5 on: April 03, 2010, 13:05 »
What type of liner is it youve got ? did you fit under lay under the liner ? the patch and mastic patch dont last that long to behonst , ive been building water features for over 7years now and find the only way to sort a hole is to weld a patch on , which is like doing a large bike inner tube repair, the area has to be dry , preped, roughed, glued , ive joined huge liners together like this and it works very well if done right , this can only be done on Firestone and Butyl Pond Liners.
its a gordon low liner, i must be doing something wrong or am very unlucky as i have exactly the same problem with the replacment liner. I lined the sides with underlay and the bottom with carpet then sand to make sure the same thing didnt happen but it blooming well has >:( >:(
Im sriously now thinking of pulling it ouf  and filling with soil as i cant find any leaks anywere and none of the folds are below the water line!
aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrgggggggg........

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Steven Rowe

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Re: Help... finding a leak in a pond.
« Reply #6 on: April 03, 2010, 16:51 »
No streams into or pumps in the pond ? have you got any stone in the pond ? like to hold soil for plants etc etc , did you buy staight from gordon low ? ive had liner's from them that have been hole'd either buy them loading it with the forklift or in transit to me on jobs, if you find the hole you can weld that type of liner which is some good news

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Paul Plots

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Re: Help... finding a leak in a pond.
« Reply #7 on: April 03, 2010, 17:00 »
Would a layer of dry newspaper all the way around behind the ring of liner where the leak is be a way of spotting a "damp" patch and locating the hole?

You could then top-up and look out for the wet patch... perhaps??  :unsure:

I think puncture repair should be straight forward once you've found the hole... ?
Never keep your wish-bone where your back-bone ought to be.

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mickeyboy

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Re: Help... finding a leak in a pond.
« Reply #8 on: April 03, 2010, 20:47 »
No streams into or pumps in the pond ? have you got any stone in the pond ? like to hold soil for plants etc etc , did you buy staight from gordon low ? ive had liner's from them that have been hole'd either buy them loading it with the forklift or in transit to me on jobs, if you find the hole you can weld that type of liner which is some good news
I bought from swell uk, i just cant possibly see how its leaking. Sides are all dry were i can pull away the liner and feel and when i removed other liner the carpet on bottom was dry as a bone although the sand where  i  banked the corners was wet. This is the second one they have sent me so i am either doing something badly wrong or they are both duff, they have both had 2 seams/joins running through them.
No filter, stones ect yet as it appears to still be slowly dropping so havent bothered. I still have the first liner but cant figure out an easy way to find the hole as it is out of the pond. 
Any ideas?
thanks for all your help ;) ;)
mickeyboy

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janette

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Re: Help... finding a leak in a pond.
« Reply #9 on: April 03, 2010, 20:58 »
is it possible that the water is being syphoned out by plant material coulyou perhaps put a bright light behind the old liner one dark night !!!

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Steven Rowe

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Re: Help... finding a leak in a pond.
« Reply #10 on: April 04, 2010, 00:41 »
i know plants can drop a pond dueing the summer , but never seen them doing that but could be another thing to check , ive seen underlay do that tho when its used has overlay , its a nitemare finding leaking mate , i hate geting the my ponds leaking phone call , its ok when its your jobs coz you know where the liner edge is and if hoses run up to feed streams , id say 8 of 10 phone calls about leaking pond are from diyers like yourself or builders thinking its easy and then it leaks , i think im out of ideas when it comes to checking your old liner for a holes , i take it the liner is a fair size ? bar runing your eyes over it ,you could make a box 1m x 1m a few inchs deep and make a mini pond leave for an hour or so, and work your way threw the liner , would take a lot of time but would save you scraping the liner because there not cheap



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