Leaking Pond

[ETD66SS]

Originally Posted by krackerjack9

Bentonite will run about 3300.00 for 26 tons and thats delievered. Might be more now due to increase fuel prices but it works and pretty cheap. Dig permit??? Are you kidding me!!! If its your property you can dig, drill, burn, cut down trees,dump stuff ect. Dig permit thats a good one!!!

In most states, yes. You need a permit...

If you dig a pond without one, and it's in a wetland area etc, you're asking for big trouble...

My pond permit cost $100. Plus, the guy who came out and inspected the site was very knowledgeable about pond building and helped me out quite a bit.

[Soundguy]

Yep.. permits vary by state.. have to have 'burn' permits in florida.. etc.. etc.

soundguy

[EddieWalker]

When I moved to Texas, I was suprised at how easy it was to do what you wanted on your own land. No permits, no building codes, no real restrictions other then common sense things like septic systems and dumping regulations. No permits needed for a pond unless it's 90 acres or larger. At that point, they want some sort of engineer to stamp the design of the dam to certify that it's not going to fail.

As to why a pond leaks in Southern Alabama, the list could be fairly extensive. Since it leaked all the way to the bottom and is totally dry, it sounds like a soil issue. Clay with some amount of sand in it is a good thing. Too much sand is a very bad thing. Without seeing pictures, but guessing from what you said, my thought is that there is too much sand in the soild.

A real simple, easy test would be to bring some water into the pond and pour it out. Does it pool up? Does it soak into the ground? It should just sit there and not go down at all.

Another issue might be in how it was built. Was a bulldozer used to dig it out? Some dozers have a very light footprint. They weigh allot, but the weight is spread out over the tracks and the actual preasure they put down on the ground is less then an automobile. My dozer weights 40,000 pounds, but my 14,000 backhoe will sink several inches into ground that I've worked with the dozer. It feels solid to walk on, but the weight on my backhoe tires is concentrated, so the tires actually put more preasure on the ground then the dozer. It is possible that if a dozer was used, and the soil is questionable, that the soil just isn't compacted to a solid enough level to hold water.

Do another test. Dig out a shallow area of the pond with your tractor. Drive over that area repeatedly. Over and over again to make sure that area is supper hard. Then pour water into that spot and see what happens. If it holds water, then you might be able to fix this with proper compaction. If it still leaks, then you will have to bring something in to seal it up.

Clay needs to be about two feet thick to work. This can be very, very expensive unless there is a job somewhere that is looking for a place to get rid of it. Bettonite is the favorite cure all for leaks because it swells up when it gets wet and plugs all the little leaks that are in the soil. This needs to be working into the existing soil and compacted. Depending on the amount needed, this can also be very expensive.

When I dug my big pond, I hit an area of sand. I removed the sand and replaced it with four feet of clay. If I had left that sand there, or ignored it, my pond would leak to that level. There is also a chance that with a sandy clay soil that there are seams, or veins of sand in your soil. If you can find something like this, it would be very easy to dig it out and fill it with clay. The same is true for gravel or rock. Both are very bad for a pond, and need to be covered in several feet of clay. You don't mention finding rock, so it's probably not there. Sand is what I'd expect is your problem.

Tree roots can act as tunnels. It's a wild shot, but did you remove allot of trees and where there any that might have a root system that could be affecting the loss of water in your pond?

Contact your Ag Extension and find out where you can get your soil analyzed to see what it's made of. People use generic terms for clay all the time, but there are over a dozen types of clay in just the most basic terms. There are all sorts of different typs of soils and it's always in layers. Be sure to look real close to find out if you have different layers of soil types and have them all tested to see what they are. You might have good clay up high, and bad clay down low.

Good luck,
Eddie

[RobJ]

Originally Posted by ETD66SS

In most states, yes. You need a permit...

If you dig a pond without one, and it's in a wetland area etc, you're asking for big trouble...

My pond permit cost $100. Plus, the guy who came out and inspected the site was very knowledgeable about pond building and helped me out quite a bit.

Probably worse around the wetlands as you mentioned. They will use aerial photos to spot changes. Have to be aware of big brother. As landowners I think we just uas the land while we can, building easments, powerline easments, etc. And who do you think owns the game on our property?

[RobJ]

Originally Posted by EddieWalker

As to why a pond leaks in Southern Alabama, the list could be fairly extensive. Since it leaked all the way to the bottom and is totally dry, it sounds like a soil issue. Clay with some amount of sand in it is a good thing. Too much sand is a very bad thing. Without seeing pictures, but guessing from what you said, my thought is that there is too much sand in the soild.

And if that red clay has some of the iron ore that we have in east Texas it'll leak. My BIL has a pond that has a leak, iron ore in the dam. Slow leak but it's there. It's on a good hill so it never drys up.

[bucmeister]

Speaking of Big Brother and who owns what, we don't really own our land, we rent it from the state for the cost of taxes each year. Don't pay taxes and see who sells your land to someone that will.

[YM-135trac]

Originally Posted by tensaw12

I recently dug a pond, about 3/4's of an acre. And STUPIDLY!! did not do ANY research.
I filled the pond about 2 weeks, ago,and now, it is almaost dry.
ANY SUGGESTIONS?,
I assume a BAD leak

Soil is a crazy thing. I've seen clothes-lines w/springs connecting line to pole?to keep line from popping after a rain. high shrink-swell clayed soil. Be careful not to put that stuff under a slab,I bet that type clay has got ice freeze heave/swell beat? I've seen it bust heavy-steeled concrete. My buddy calls it allien moon dirt. When wet, It loves you&can't even wash it off w/hose,love affair is over when it dries(flakes off).Ole timer on I-10 LA. project called it snake dirt-It would make loud erie hissing(sizzle)sound at you, like a snake, when load after load of lime was dumped into road foundation.US soil surveyors gave it soil names such, as alligator/sharky, I suppose on their trek they felt as they bitten(attacked) when they sank to their hips in this stuff and had to do the rope/tree/rescue thing? Want more land? Do your land survey before, not after a rain,get more land out of it.HA-HA enough dirty jokes....

It's hard to say w/info provided? If you are in a area w/gently rolling hills(southern alabama) and you placed that pond at or anywhere near the apex, and not at the natrual lowest point,your pond may never natrually hold water? Why? right to local ext./service-soil conservation svc, get a copy of your county soil survey,complete map book.(was free,now?). It will explain your local county soil charactaristics. Where-how-when,sometimes why(river course changes ect.) will be answered in this usefull book! It was compiled and put together many moons ago, as a US make-work project , kinda like the CCC. Study was started after the dust bowl days, completed and updated nationwide(I mean homelandwide) in the 70's employed lots of soil scientist/surveyors/ arial photgraphers ect. The detail/data is remarkable. (unlike any of our secret, nothing to show for, privatized government spending projects today) You may find map book not available, outa print ect.? That book (old data) I know has been used in court to defend wetland issues. It's photos&data/history-locks so to speak, helped a buddy w/his wetland/pond issues.I have not heard of it being in a book burning round up yet?I keep mine in my file cabinet, maybe I should move to my safe? County library may have original book? Study it, before you make your next costly move. then use Eddie's tips(he covered most of them) & soil conservation book to fix your problem. Don't feel stupid. you were just unaware.

[skipmarcy]

Some people around here have had some luck sealing a pond by keeping some hogs in there for awhile - I guess their rooting & wallowing help seal some smaller leaks. My neighbor did this with his small pond last year and it worked for him. He kept about 8 or 10 small hogs in there for about 6 months, borrowed them from someone and helped feed them in exchange for their "services".