New pond dig

[Nepen]

After a month of moving to the new house and only get to see my fish once or twice a week when I went back tot he old house to get more stuff, I discovered that my pond lost almost all the water , it forced me to take action and finally build the new pond!!

So during the long weekend we rented the big equipment and prep the land for pond and patio. The dig was a lot harder than I expected because the pure clay and rocks and wisteria roots in the ground make for a very hard work keeping the bottom of the pond smooth, I ended up having to water the ground and walk on them to smooth out the clay.

My husband got me 60 mm EPDM roofing liner 20*50 for me to work with. I planned for 10*12, 3 feet deep pond but ended up with 12*15, 2 feet deep pond instead. I also ended up with about 35 feet long stream.

The problems I have are that the ground is NOT level and I tried and tried to make the pond side level but it's still not. Also the bog is not much higher than the pond so when I made the stream, I made a mistake of digging it too deep and the output of the stream is low and I cant fill the pond to the point that I planned to. I think i'm going to take the stream liner up and add about 2 inches of sand to it to raise the stream bed

I also have a problem with plumbing. ALL the joints have leaks. I'm going to have to re-do my pipe again today.

I'm using 2 pumps - 4200 and 2900 GPH and I'm using 2 inches pipe. Is it ok to use 2 pumps and combine them to 1 pipe leading to the bog?

Here are some pictures.

Back yard with one of the mound of wisteria roots that we didnt take away to the dump, now dried and housed at least 4 snakes. The mound was about 4 feet high.

The path is getting cleared for the pond

copper head....good thing my husband saw it.. I was wearing flip flop....

Thats the pond before the liner put in... cant even tell..

Heavy liner...

my attempt at building a skimmer... hope it works....

cleaning the liner - want to clean the powder off as much as possible

test the water

filled, but with sides expose because the dang land is not level and my stream is too low...

my attempt at Bog

Bog's pipe...

plumbing by novice..

plumbing by novice 2... I need to re-do all of it.. leaks every where

pond filled, with cloudy water because there are lots of clay and my son loves to throw rocks(with clay) in the pond...

LONG way to go...


ANY suggestions of how best to do plumbing?

I cant dig the ground without the machine, it's harder than rocks, the clay around here. I didnt think and dug the pipe line the LONG way.

~A

 

[paintguru]

I did flex PVC where I could and used hard PVC as connectors if necessary. I'm surprised you have so many leaks if you glued all the connections with PVC cement....typically those are pretty solid. I wish I had a machine when we dug ours .

 

[addy1]

If there is enough slope that the water flows down the stream, it does not matter if it is lower than the pond in places. You will have nice collections of of water to grow plants in. My stream has nice collections of plants that grow in the stream bed, I made a lot of depressions to retain water. My stream is on a timer due to the head pressure and the pump that sends water up to it. (100 feet of head pressure)

I can't tell if the end of the stream (ground level) is higher or lower than the pond, not the dug out stream bed, but the ground level. Have a nice collection of water at the end, then a raised area that will drop into your pond.

 

[addy1]

but with sides expose because the dang land is not level and my stream is too low...

Raise the lower side with dirt, i.e. a dirt berm, dig down the higher side. dig in a small shelf around the pond like 5 -6 inches wide and around 4-6 inches below surface, to lay rocks on to hide the liner, makes a real nice edge for the pond. My low side is built up by 8 feet or so, the high side dug down by 3-4 feet or so. Mine is on a horrendous slope. The arrow to the right is the drop from ground level to pond edge, the berm is the edge of the bog.

This is member j.w.'s pond edge The rocks hide the liner beautifully.

 

[addy1]

plumbing by novice 2... I need to re-do all of it.. leaks every where

Use the purple primer, let it dry, then the pvc glue, push together, do a slight twist, hold for a moment or two. Do not prime with water for 30 minutes or so, let it dry well.

 

[Nepen]

I'm not sure why I have so many leaks. I think we didnt use enough cement or something. My husband got the pipe for me and kept telling me to not cut corner and do it right (I was going to throw down the towel and use a leak quick fix). I waited an hour before turning the water on, still, slow leaks. We didnt twist the pipe though, may be that's the problem.

I'm done digging the higher side is like a foot higher and I cant dig my clay, way too hard (the machine had a hard time too) I'm thinking about hiding the liner with vertical planters - just hand on the side and let the plants cover the liner cut corner again lol. I'll try to level a bit more later

I'll have pools everywhere in my stream, I just try not to have pool next to the seam (if the pool freeze in winter I dont want to have the seam fail) The incline is only about 5 inches , with 30 feet long stream, it's almost level. I have 4 feet of liners over lapsing each other but the water went under the top liner, I dont want to have problem in the future so I taped the seam.

 

[addy1]

I put glue on both pieces, after priming both pieces. The slight twist helps melt it together, the holding does not let it slightly move, which it will do now and then esp with 2 and bigger inch pvc.

To bad you don't still have the digger. I can't dig mine either without a machine, hardly can put in plants with the rocks/shale/clay mix we have.
I have taped seams that have done well over 4 winters now.

 

[tbendl]

You sound frustrated Nepen. I'm sorry. ( The pond looks great though. Any chance you can put the stream on the back burner and get your fish moved so you can then work on the rest at your leisure and not be so pressured?

 

[RobAmy]

Sorry for the few problems but it is looking good. Tackle all the leaks now, it will be easier now then later.

 

[Nepen]

Thanks all haha yes I am frustrated with all the problem. I'm hoping to be at least half done before my boy birthday party in June but I'm starting to doubt that.

I moved my fish today already. Don't want to leave them in 3 inches of water for too long, especially with no filter (pump was running but only circulating the water in the pond, I don't trust it to go through the filter, afraid it'll leak all the water). All the fish were fine and now happy in the big pond. I found 2 babies but my son thought they were tadpoles and tried to catch them too hard and they died

I'm going to tackle the pipe this Friday. Going to do it one or two at a time, wait an hour and do another one...

I'm wondering if it's ok to use one 2 inches pipe for 2 pumps?

 

[addy1]

I use a two inch pipe for a pump that pushes 6800 gph. I would think it would be fine, but have never done that.

 

[Nepen]

Thanks Addy. That's good to know.

 

[Nepen]

More pics of my pond, from 2nd floor. I couldnt believe how long the stream is....

the taped seams - do you think this will hold?

 

[addy1]

Did you use double side tape also, i.e. between the two pieces of liner? I had some liner taped (in my stream) over time the constant water running loosened it.

If it were mine............notice if it were mine..............I would cut a small piece of liner, clean the seam area well on the upstream side of the tape (alcohol or acetone) , and down side if you want. Lay the piece of liner over the joint, and if it were mine I would get my favorite goop, pl roofing goop, goop up the liner well press down the piece of cut liner into it, a lot of goop on the upside part, goop up the edge of the piece of liner, let it dry well for a few days or so. This will help protect the seam.

How deep is your stream? i made mine around 10 inches, with deeper pockets here and there, with our slope, almost wish it was deeper, the deer keep messing up the down slope edge, every winter. Every spring I have to fluff that edge so it does not leak over. And plants tend to grow in the stream bed, easy for the water to get diverted.

 

[Nepen]

Thanks Addy. Would you tell me the brand name of the roofing goop? I wanted to do that, using the goop, but my husband (who owns a roofing company) said the roofing goop is way too expensive and he couldn't think of anything I's talking about Protecting the seam is a great idea.

I have only about 5-10 inches bed. The bed is 3-4 feet wide and when I turn on the pumps, the water wasn't even cover all the stream and I 'm not so sure I need it deeper.. maybe the length of the pipe made the flow a lot less Wondering if I should try digging the shorter route for my pipe. I'll try that anyway, it'll be less incline and shorter route... will be very hard though!!

What type of foam do you use to seal the rocks and waterfall?

I actually have more questions earlier but then it disappear from my brain....