Pond water level keeps dropping

[Pkb]

Hi. I was wondering if anyone can help me. I have had my pond for 6 years now but have recently brought fish this summer. In the summer months the water level was great, it rarely decreased. Now in the winter months the water level is decreasing very quickly ! I would fill my pond up to the top with the hose and in about 2 days the level would just drop till under half the amount ! As the water level is so low my filter creates an awful noise as there is no water above it.
I have no idea why the water keeps decreasing at such a fast pace , I do have a waterfall and a net ... could this cause the level to drop ?
Please help !!

 

[Lisak1]

Welcome to the GPF!

More details would be helpful - how many gallons, what type of filtration, how big is the waterfall? etc.

But generally speaking, most water loss comes from a few typical sources: plumbing leaks or low edges. If you are able to shut your pump down for a few hours - say overnight - and check the water level in the morning you should be able to tell if the leak is in the plumbing. At the same time, you can check the whole perimeter of the pond and most especially the waterfall for low edges where water may be escaping. Look for damp areas around the pond that shouldn't' be there. Edges or rocks can slip creating low areas where water can run out - even a small trickle can add up to a lot of water loss quickly! But no - a net won't cause water loss and a waterfall that's working right shouldn't suddenly start causing your water level to drop.

The last possibility is a leak in the liner. If you shut down the pump and the water keeps dropping, you may have a leak. But that's really the rare case.

Good luck with your search!

 

[GBBUDD]

Lots of pictures can help the quickest

 

[Pkb]

Welcome to the GPF!

More details would be helpful - how many gallons, what type of filtration, how big is the waterfall? etc.

But generally speaking, most water loss comes from a few typical sources: plumbing leaks or low edges. If you are able to shut your pump down for a few hours - say overnight - and check the water level in the morning you should be able to tell if the leak is in the plumbing. At the same time, you can check the whole perimeter of the pond and most especially the waterfall for low edges where water may be escaping. Look for damp areas around the pond that shouldn't' be there. Edges or rocks can slip creating low areas where water can run out - even a small trickle can add up to a lot of water loss quickly! But no - a net won't cause water loss and a waterfall that's working right shouldn't suddenly start causing your water level to drop.

The last possibility is a leak in the liner. If you shut down the pump and the water keeps dropping, you may have a leak. But that's really the rare case.

Good luck with your search!

This is my pond. Quite small. Approx 150 litres. I have now just filled my pond up to the top. And I have turned the filter and waterfall off. I will check after work to see if the level has dropped. I’m just a bit worried that the fish will die if I have turned the filter off !

 

[addy1]

Welcome to our group!

You are getting good advice above. Usually it is a low liner, the waterfall a plant that redirects the flow.

If your fish are goldfish they are pretty hardy and can handle lack of water flow.

 

[Relic]

Years ago I started having a water-level issue - 1-2 inches per day - which was more than the normal evaporation rate I was accustomed to. So I started sleuthing. I finally narrowed it down to my waterfall, which is just loose-stacked flagstone with a slight tilt toward the pond. I shut down the pump and began to un-stack the beast and to my utter amazement there was a plethora of small roots layered between the rocks and had been wicking away the water. I started cutting the roots and tracing them back to their origin: A large Japanese maple tree approximately 8 feet away. Re-stacked the flagstone and all was well. (I did, however, eventually cut down the spectacular tree; it had grown over the patio lip, engulfed all my sprinkler valve wires - tearing some - and was threatening the house foundation. Amazing because it was just a spindly 1-gallon plant when I bought it and never figure it to get big - 10 inch diameter trunk...pays to read the labels.)

 

[j.w]

@Pkb
Is this a hard plastic pond? I'm thinking there may be a crack or a hole somewhere along the sides. You said it was half your water amount that you lost. That is a lot of it to be your water fall or plants wicking it up. Not sure how you repair those ponds if that is the case.

 

[Lisak1]

Is this a hard plastic pond?

Good catch... I was thinking liner, not preformed.

 

[Pkb]

Yes it is a hard plastic pond ! However I’m unsure if there is a crack/ hole in the pond ... surely the water would go down quicker if there was a hole? I’ve just turned my filter off and I would check the level tomorrow morning !
Thank you for your replies

 

[Pkb]

I haven’t got a pond liner

 

[j.w]

Could be just a small hole which is draining slower. You should be able to tell by letting it drop down as far as the water will go and check then all around the sides w/your fingers and eyes very closely to find the small hole. Then maybe someone will have idea's on how to fix the hole. If no water drains out at all while the falls are turned off then it must be the falls somehow leaking or splashing out. What else can it be? Just hope the water only goes down halfway and no more. On the bottom would mean taking all the fish out to fix it unless there is some kind of glue goop that will work underwater.

 

[Pkb]

Could be just a small hole which is draining slower. You should be able to tell by letting it drop down as far as the water will go and check then all around the sides w/your fingers and eyes very closely to find the small hole. Then maybe someone will have idea's on how to fix the hole. If no water drains out at all while the falls are turned off then it must be the falls somehow leaking or splashing out. What else can it be? Just hope the water only goes down halfway and no more. On the bottom would mean taking all the fish out to fix it unless there is some kind of glue goop that will work underwater.

Thank you

 

[Relic]

There are a fair amount of products that can be used "underwater", some are epoxies, etc. Two things to be concerned about is toxicity - and as long as the water level is BELOW the repair site while it cures I think it would be fine. Second would be to get the plastic surface of the pond very clean from algae and gunk before the repair. Good luck...

 

[JamieB]

If it keeps dropping, I’d set up a large plastic tote, tub, 30 gallon trash can ( new one, don’t fill the grimy one) with pond water, an air stone, and depending on how long it will take to repair, maybe a filter. Keep it deep enough to keep the fish safe, temps fairly stable, and safe from predators. Then you can let the pond drain as much as needed, find the problem, and fix it. If you must drain the pond completely, I’d be cautious adding the fish back as benifical bacteria will have died off and until it returns, you’ll risk ammonia spikes.

 

[addy1]

I had two hard plastic ones crack. Both slow leaks but leaked. Finally tossed and put in liner.