Need Help - water won't drain

[french2s]

Ok, no mean or snarky comments.

First picture is a drained pond about 6'x7'x3.5'. it would not hold water and due to all the rock, it was going to be costly to build.

Second Pictures - is what we decided to do. Fill in the pond, put in a preformed small pond, decorate, get the vibe.

Third pictures - so I believe I am cursed. Somehow a leak started in the preformed pond and leaked all the water out, bubbling up the pond form. Yesterday, we removed the pond form and this is what we have. The water will not drain. I did purchase a San Angelo Bar and we pounded it in the ground several places to see if we could puncture the old liner in a couple places where I knew it bubble up, but nothing.

So, I am asking for advice. I don't have a lot of funds right now and I have a knee replacement scheduled on 11/17, so time is of the essence but I do have a 15yo that can help. My first thought is to 1) pull back smaller rock, so I don't lose it; 2) get some tarps to cover ground around the pond and have him get in there and just pull in the sides of the pond dirt, to see if we can puncture any of the upper level old liner (rocks lining it are TIGHT); cover tarps to keep dogs clean; 3) re dig out the area for the preform - after I patch it, and go again.

I am looking for something simple that is not going to cost me a ton of money so I am hoping I get some! Thank you so much.

 

[Stephen Noble]

No worries, no mean comments from this group. Just some questions to try to help if you will work with us. Help us understand the situation:
You started with a waterfall flowing into a liner pond.
The water leaked out for whatever reason.
You dropped in a preformed pond on top of the liner hoping to resolve the leak.
The preformed pond also leaked water.
Does that accurately summarize your situation?
Question: In image 3, I see the pump on the edge of the pond. Is that the real location or is it just placed there for maintenance or whatever?
Question? Is it possible your waterfall is the source of the leak rather than the liner or preformed pond?
Waterfalls are notorious for leaking water. I can share some horror stories about that problem!
How long has your pond been established?

 

[french2s]

So the picture with a really deep pond was here when I moved in and would not hold water. It consistently leaked out I had thought about having it rebuilt but it was going to cost several thousand dollars. I was advised to fill in the big hole that you see in the picture with all of the rock around it. So we filled it in with filled dirt from a local ranch, once we had the soil level, we dug out an area for a preformed pond and just set that on top. Unfortunately, for whatever reason the preform sprung a leak and the water that was in it leaked out to underneath the form. Underneath the form, the water just sat there and was not draining. so the third picture is what you see when I pulled out the preformed pond.

The problem I’m trying to remedy is how can I get that water to drain so that I can put the preform pond back in the soil and set up my small pond water feature. It’s too late to do anything with that huge deep pond that was here when I moved in. We were never able to determine where the leak was. All we know is water leaked somehow somewhere And it was most likely where the water intake was, but there is so much rock built up there over that liner it was going to take a ton of work in order to move the rock which is why we thought filling it in would be the best option.

Not sure if that answers your question but maybe that will help

 

[GBBUDD]

pREFORMS ARE ACTUALY HARDER TO SET HAUL AND MAINTAIN OR A EPDM LINER

 

[GBBUDD]

pREFORMS ARE ACTUALY HARDER TO SET HAUL AND MAINTAIN OR A EPDM LINER

Let's try that again. I SWEAR I DRINK AFTER LOOKING BACK AT MY TEXT....
Preform ponds are actually harder to set, haul and maintain over an EPDM liner.