Pond water level keeps dropping

[Joejoe80]

Well others have said it already.
Turn off pumps. if water drops you have a leak in the liner.
If not then it’s either the plumbing or waterfall.
If it’s the Preformed liner then you have to let it drain as far as it will and then check for the hole.

Other then that if it was me.
I would buy a rubber liner. Drain the pond. And lay the liner right inside the preformed liner.
If your ok with it. Otherwise if you gone that far you might just want to get rid of the preformed altogether

 

[Pkb]

Thanks for your reply. I have switched my waterfall and filter off and the water hasn’t gone down ! So I’m guessing the fault lies there’s... however my waterfall and filter is connected together both turns on or off at the same time. Any idea for what to do next .....

 

[JamieB]

First step is to find the cause of the leak. Add an air stone to the water, or external filter, and get to work looking over your waterfall filter set up. Check hoses, connections, and all pieces. Look for wetness as a clue to where it’s leaking. If you have buried pipes, I’d save those for last, just in case they aren’t the problem, start at the most accessible parts. If it’s a cracked pipe, replace that section, if it’s a cracked canister, replace or repair if replacement isn’t affordable, but read through the threads on what’s good for repairs and how to do them. meanwhile, top off your pond, and if you don’t have a back up filter, do frequent water testing to watch for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and do more frequent water changes to remove those as needed.

 

[poconojoe]

Thoroughly check you waterfall structure too. Sometimes water can get diverted between, under and around the rocks. Rocks can sometimes get moved by differences in temperature or neighborhood critters.

Do you have a liner beneath your waterfall? I always build my waterfalls with a liner shaped so that if any water gets between or under the rocks, it can only flow back into the pond.
I build a concave mound of soil pitched toward the pond. I form shelves in the soil to support the rocks. Cover all that with a geotextile underlayment (or carpet, carpet pad, newspaper, etc.) and liner, then add the rocks for the falls. Think of it like the liner is the actual falls and the rocks are there to make it all look good.

 

[Joejoe80]

Since you turned off your pumps and the water is holding. Then it’s either the plumbing or the waterfall.

The first thing you should do is turn your pumps back on.

Then I would start by looking for wet spots or soft/muddy ground.
If there is no sign of wet or soft ground were your plumbing runs.
However it might not cause the ground to become wet or soft if the water is being absorbed into the ground quick enough?

If nothing looks wet or none of the ground feels soft
Then I would look into the waterfall.
Otherwise you might want to dig up your plumbing for the hell of it

Wait is your plumbing clear hose?? And does it just run under the rock??
Hard to tell in the pictures.
Can you get better/clearer pictures

 

[Bluerooster]

I had a major water loss problem a couple months back. My waterfall is the spill over from the bog. I had a plant in that bog which was trying to take over the world. It had caused water to back up at the rear of the bog, and dribble out.
Years ago when I worked for an aerial application service, we had a 500 gallon tank which we would use for water storage. When it was pumped dry, we'd fill it overnight with a garden hose, valve set to just drip. Next morning it would be over flowing and untold gallons flowing on the ground, creating quite the "lake".

 

[Pkb]

Since you turned off your pumps and the water is holding. Then it’s either the plumbing or the waterfall.

The first thing you should do is turn your pumps back on.

Then I would start by looking for wet spots or soft/muddy ground.
If there is no sign of wet or soft ground were your plumbing runs.
However it might not cause the ground to become wet or soft if the water is being absorbed into the ground quick enough?

If nothing looks wet or none of the ground feels soft
Then I would look into the waterfall.
Otherwise you might want to dig up your plumbing for the hell of it

Wait is your plumbing clear hose?? And does it just run under the rock??
Hard to tell in the pictures.
Can you get better/clearer pictures

 

[Jhn]

Looking at the pics and the way the waterfall sits on the edge of the preformed pond, the water is probably running under the lip of the waterfall edge and out where it sits on the pond edge.

 

[sissy]

I learned even roots from plants can divert water .I think the plants are trying to save the plant friends outside the pond from drying up and meeting a horrible ending .The plant roots are life savers . But they give us a headache and stress us out

 

[MIKES KOI]

im gonna agree with jhn i noticed this and 1 other thing right off .hes right.take a close look there first.i also noticed the netting , so im guessing you had a heron issue at one time? those critters can poke a hole in a liner!!! i would recommend if the waterfalls is not the issue i would shut falls down and if the water continues to drop you got a hole. you may need to remove fish till the water drops to the spot of the tear. then you will be able to find it pretty easy patch and refill. hope this helps. im new here but i got 40 years of dealing with ponds.

 

[ChefTim]

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 !!

Do you use a liner?? If so some one or thing has poked a hole in it. I had this problem with moles...

 

[Jhn]

Do you use a liner?? If so some one or thing has poked a hole in it. I had this problem with moles...

It is a hard plastic liner and hard formed waterfall, the pond holds water when the waterfall is shut off, so it is in the waterfall/plumbing.

 

[MIKES KOI]

your post 23 looks dead on to me.@ jhn

 

[GBBUDD]

Pkb there are a few things that could be loosing water the first is as JHN said the hard plastic tub does not have a large lip from the ones i have ever seen they are an inch as best and the water could roll right under the rock and your leaking. the other the way the water shoots out the pipe at the side of the falls is surely splashing and that can add up as well. And just from these observations wouldn't lead me to believe there's much of a liner of some sort under the rocks / stream /falls concrete absorbs water and or wicks water, thus losing water.

My two cents would be to start over pull out all the rocks along the top of the pond and stream edging. Get some epdm 45 mil rubber that will sit in your tub and up over all the sides and have it so that the rubber is one piece. run it all the way up to the top of the falls and BEYOND. Then you can start to build edges along the stream pitch the rubber so it runs into the tub that is now just a form for the new rubber. Read the many posts here go to you tube and find the Pond digger and Aquascapes ,Team Aquascapes and Atlantis water gardens between those 4 you will find a video where you will see what you need to do. get some ideas and then throw some ideas back at the good folks here. I believe it will be a lot less work and a whole lot more rewarding in the long run. Then it will be chasing leaks

 

[Marcus_1234]

I have a 30,000 litre pond. Last week workers completed stone paving around the pond. Then 2 days after they finished, the pond had dropped around 20cm, a few thousand litres of water! Of course we were in a panic because the company had also installed rain drainage around the pond. We got them to dig up several areas thinking one of the filtration pipes had been damaged, nothing, everything dry. We were completely dumbfounded. We filled the pond up again overnight, turned all the filtration off, closed the pipe shut off valves, only to find out the next day it was dropping at similar rates. Where was all this water going?? I just happened to read in this forum above that Lisak1 mentioned to check the waterfall. We have a small waterfall (small elevated pond that pours out into the main pond) fed by a small pump via a hose. It seems that during constructions work, the pipe had been bumped out of the elevated pond. There i discovered this little pump, going full speed, missing the elevated pond and pumping all the water underneath it, hidden by some plants. I went into a complete state of nirvana! No massive damage or issues. Re-inserted the pipe and no more water drop. Just wanted to share with you that not every water loss issue is major!