Concrete Pond Leaking

[Aranki]

I joined this forum to learn from membership expertise. I have a 1500 Gallon Koi concrete Pond. The pond is a Pizza slice shape with an average depth of 33 inches. It is below and 18 inches above ground. I installed a Pondmaster Clearguard Pressurized Filter up to 5500 GAL (WITH 18 Watt UV Light). I also built a 55 gallon Koi pond stone and gravel filter that removes sediments with a bio filter balls at the bottom for extra filtering. It was designed to have a water fall and a 3” bottom drain and side jets for water circulation. I used a Quiet Drive External Pump (4200gph) with a priming pot. I also have a Helix Pond Skimmer installed.

The pond turned out bigger than I expected but it looks great and all equipment and systems work great. Except for one big issue. The pond leaks. Not sure what is leaking or where. I used Drylok to waterproof the pond and used 4 coats of the stuff. Water collects on both sides of the pond where dirt is exposed, and also on the bottom of wall in front of the pond (see pictures). I’ve been troubleshooting it for 8 months now and everything that I thought it was and fixed turned out not to be the cause.

Troubleshooting and fixes taken:

1. Waterfall piping, Turned off water for the waterfall, no help (rule waterfall piping out)

2. Skimmer piping, lowered the water below the skimmer opening, no help (rule Skimmer Piping out).

3. 3 inch bottom drain piping, Plugged drain with 3 inch plug, No help (ruled drain piping out)

4. Water Jet piping, removed water jets and Plugged all 5 jet output holes and closed both jet piping valves, no help (ruled water jet piping out).

5. The concrete was sealed with 4 coats of DryLok. There are no visible cracks in concrete or at least cracks that I can see.

The only plausible cause is that the concrete is leaking, but the concrete wall and bottom is almost foot and a half thick and I have 4 coats of DryLok on it. When I settled on DryLok, I thought that its a good sealer, isn't that so? any other water proofing material that may go over DryLok?

Any ideas or pointers would be much appreciated.

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome! What a nice pond! I’m sorry that I have no advice for you...... But would like to ask where you are located and what type of climate do you have year round?

 

[Aranki]

The pond is in the Los Angeles area where the weather is temperate.

 

[j.w]

@Aranki I wish I knew how to help ya but I don't know about concrete ponds. Some will pop in and help you that know about sealing etc. Very pretty pond!

 

[Tula]

I don't have a concrete pond; however I've followed a couple concrete pond builds and Xypex was used for waterproofing.

Your pond is beautiful

 

[poconojoe]

Very nice beautiful setup! You were very creative in your design.
I don't know how to seal your concrete, but hope others can help. There's got to be a preferred sealant for this exact need. The first think that came to my mind was to install an EPDM liner over the concrete. But concealing it might be challenging, especially at the top.

 

[Lump]

Aranki, I have a few questions.
1) Are you noticing a loss of water level which suggests a significant leak? It only takes a tiny bit of water to show a leak.
2) IF the answer to that first question is no, then I wonder if there is any chance of condensation under the concrete somewhere, and seeping out? I realize that LA area is pretty dry, so this doesn't seem too likely...but worth a shot.
3). I have heard of folks using dye in ponds and swimming pools to seek leaks. Somehow they realize a small amount near areas where they suspect leaks, intentionally not stirring the water to spread out the dye. Then, if the leak is significant, you might spot the dye being drawn to a location.
4). How have you determined that those areas you eliminated really weren't leaking? Did you isolate them for several days? I would think that, if many gallons had leaked out of your pond underneath it, several days could go by before it would stop weeping out into those areas where you are seeing it. So it MIGHT be possible that you are shutting off the plumbing or drain, etc, and still seeing "leakage," due to excess moisture already underneath there somewhere.

Good luck in hunting that pesky leak. These things can be a pain to find.

 

[Relic]

Not sure how much "void" space (if any) exists inside your wall, but the possibility might exist that a significant amount of water is contained behind the wall and is very slowly leaking out under the wall. So slowly that even completely draining the pond would still result in water seeping out from under the wall for some time. That would indicate that even shutting down selected areas of plumbing still might not conclusively prove the leak was elsewhere as long as there was already "leaked water" waiting to show...

I agree with Lump, this problem is always a pain.

 

[Giovanni]

How thick is the Neoprene coating Hercu put in the pond. May be a small uncoated spot. I have the same problem. Going to apply a second coat of the sealer. The company you used makes the SAME product but much cheaper for Truck bed liner. It's called Herculiner @ AutoZone. That's what I used, but I only used 1 coat (supposed to apply 2 coats)

 

[Aranki]

How thick is the Neoprene coating Hercu put in the pond. May be a small uncoated spot. I have the same problem. Going to apply a second coat of the sealer. The company you used makes the SAME product but much cheaper for Truck bed liner. It's called Herculiner @ AutoZone. That's what I used, but I only used 1 coat (supposed to apply 2 coats)

Not sue how thick it was but I ended up draining the pond and applying another coat of Pond Shield Epoxy paint. After that the pond looked as if it was coated with Ceramic (I used the Tan color). But the leaky spot keeps coming back every now and then. I think it comes on mostly when my neighbor over waters his lawn. When I dug up the clay dirt for the pond I noticed water pooling at the bottom of the pond before I finished building it, my house sits on a slanted hill so water runs down to my property from neighbors up hill. But there is always that doubt that my pond is leaking. Not sure if putting dye in the pond is a good idea, I've seen suggestions that it can identify if the pond or its piping is leaking or not.

 

[Lisak1]

Welcome @Aranki !

I'm confused by the statement "It comes on mostly when my neighbor over waters his lawn". Is it possible this water isn't coming from the pond at all but rather seeping under from the yard next door?

 

[poconojoe]

So, what's the deal? Is the pond actually leaking? Is the water level in the pond diminishing? Or is water just collecting near the pond from some other source?

 

[Aranki]

Welcome @Aranki !

I'm confused by the statement "It comes on mostly when my neighbor over waters his lawn". Is it possible this water isn't coming from the pond at all but rather seeping under from the yard next door?

Yes it is possible and that's what I think since water was pooling at the bottom of the pit when I dug out the pond. The reason I have not discounted a leak in the pluming of the pond is that I noticed that when I do not clean the filters for an extended period of time (about 4 weeks), the leak spot shown in the picture above appears. After I clean the filters, the spot seams to go away. It is really a strange case. Like I mentioned before, I need to place a dye in the pond and see if the dye leaks, but now I need to find a fish friendly dye.

 

[Aranki]

So, what's the deal? Is the pond actually leaking? Is the water level in the pond diminishing? Or is water just collecting near the pond from some other source?

It could be both, I'm not sure.

 

[poconojoe]

Yes it is possible and that's what I think since water was pooling at the bottom of the pit when I dug out the pond. The reason I have not discounted a leak in the pluming of the pond is that I noticed that when I do not clean the filters for an extended period of time (about 4 weeks), the leak spot shown in the picture above appears. After I clean the filters, the spot seams to go away. It is really a strange case. Like I mentioned before, I need to place a dye in the pond and see if the dye leaks, but now I need to find a fish friendly dye.

So, is the pond actually losing water or you just see a puddle once in a while?
Maybe it's not a leak at all, just a wet spot that occurs when the conditions are just right.