Is water disappearing from your pond? There are several steps, tips and tricks to finding out if the pond has a leak.
Determine if it’s a leak or simply evaporation
Pond owners often don’t realize how much water can evaporate during the summer heat. Ponds in the middle of the country typically lose an average 1 to 1 ½ inches of water each week, while Southwestern, ponds often lose up to three or more inches a week. Some ponds won’t experience evaporation levels this high. Ponds with high volumes of water, streams or waterfalls with splashing cascades may have higher evaporation levels than simpler ponds.
Once you have ruled out water loss due to evaporation, it’s time to investigate for potential leaks.
If it’s not evaporation, look for obstructions in the stream and waterfalls. Make sure nothing is causing the leak by restricting the flow of water. The homeowner may have adjusted some of the rocks in the waterfalls in order to improve the look of the falls, accidentally causing some of the water to be diverted over the liner.
Look for low edges around the pond. 99 percent of all leaks are not due to a hole in the liner, but to water making its way over the edges of the pond, stream, or waterfalls. Look for signs of a low edge—wet mulch or gravel along the edge of the pond. You may need to move gravel in certain areas to find the low edge. If you find a low edge, an easy fix is to build the edge back up by simply backfilling and compacting soil beneath the liner in order to raise the edge of the liner above the water level.
Water could also make its way over the edge of the pond due to excessive plant or algae growth in the stream or filter. Plants and algae should be maintained by trimming them back in order to let water through. These leaks are extremely easy to fix.
If you have done all the things listed above and still can’t find the leak, check out our upcoming blog post highlighting more leak fixing techniques.