Anybody know to "seal" a dirt pond?

[Sodo]

No drilling anywhere nearby (AFAIK...). But good info for the topic, somebody making a big pond might be happy to find your post! But for me, the most likely scenario is to drive a mile or so to a clay hill and get a few 5gal buckets.

Another question. This pond is only 4 days old. Is it likely to plug its leaks all by itself? Its all soil, not sandy. On a grade, there are no natural ponds on this grade.

 

[KiotiKowboy]

How much does the bentonite cost? I've heard that coverage is around 1-3 lbs per square foot. At a $1/lb, that could indeed get pretty pricey for a larger pond; but I have no idea how much the stuff costs.

And where do you normally get it? I've never seen it at Lowe's/HD (but never looked for it either). Don't know if the local coops have it (never looked there either).

Thanks,

Bentonite comes from only 2 or 3 sources in the US and has to be shipped. For me, to effectively handle my pond, I would need more than a few dump truck loads. For testing, I did locate an ag supplier about 150 miles away. He only had a limited supply but I managed to get close to 1000 lbs in 40lb bags. It does work and, for a small project, might be an affordable option.

I believe, in my case, it will make more sense to locate some local supply of decent pond clay and have it hauled in.

 

[Walkin Horse]

I must be on the ignore list. HOLE PLUG. WATER WELL DRILLER. Hole plug you don't drain it.

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[FTG-05]

Bentonite comes from only 2 or 3 sources in the US and has to be shipped. For me, to effectively handle my pond, I would need more than a few dump truck loads. For testing, I did locate an ag supplier about 150 miles away. He only had a limited supply but I managed to get close to 1000 lbs in 40lb bags. It does work and, for a small project, might be an affordable option.

I believe, in my case, it will make more sense to locate some local supply of decent pond clay and have it hauled in.

My bet: $$$ Like $$$ I don't wanna know about. Sounds like, a couple pennies spent during construction i.e. compacting the soil, is $$$ after the fact. Which, perchance, is basically what some people were reporting over on Pond Boss.

 

[roadhunter]

Is there some reason you are opposed to putting a rubber liner in it? Seem like for a hole that small it would be a piece of cake to install and work really well.

 

[Sodo]

I do have black plastic here but it seemed that I would be battling a liner, trying to keep it invisible, and then it floats up someday regardless. And it seemed like mud on plastic would be a problem, somehow. Anyway thats what I was thinking at the time, and powered onward. Then I posted on TBN and learned a lot more about ponds. For now I think I will see if it plugs itself. It's getting better, it's full and maybe 20% of the water is now going out the spillway.

I think I'll give it a couple weeks and if the steady state doesn't satisfy I'll spike it with clay.

 

[sld]

How high is the water table? The 1 acre pond I dug years ago took a few months to saturate the ground down to the water table. After that it held water fine except for evaporation on hot windy days.

 

[rd_macgregor]

What PAYGUY said. For your tiny pond, you don't need a large (expensive) quantity of bentonite. Buy a bag of kitty litter (check ingredients; it should say "bentonite clay" or somesuch). I'd suggest avoiding versions with other fillers, like shredded newspaper, popcorn or silica gel.

 

[Hiltz]

Did I mention a bag of Portland cement would cost you about $10.00

 

[Sodo]

Yes you did, that's a reasonable $ to spend on this, if it doesn't seal (or saturate) on its own. Will the cement sink to the bottom if you pour it in or do you have to mix into the water and it settles?

Kitty litter is interesting too, easily obtained but does it have other chemicals? This is the headwaters to a creek I'm messin' with, I'm already worried somebody might take offense at the alteration alone. I might give it another week, see if it works itself out.

Hoping that the edges of the pond cover over with foliage all the evidence disappears ASAP. Just in case. Also I like it that way.