Pre-formed pond issue

[french2s]

Good morning. I moved into a home that had a pretty deep decorative pond. The liner was under a lot of rock and it was going to cost a ton to rebuild. I decided to fill in that hole (about 4'x8'x7') with fill dirt. I still wanted that water feature so I put in a 100 gallon kidney shaped pre-formed plastic pond, got it set level, and all set up and worked great. Last week, I noticed the water draining. After it drained out, I saw that the bottom of the form was bubbled up and when pushed on, there is water under it. I realized that the water is not draining into the top soil after several days. I was considering moving all my rock back, and pulling the form up to see the issue, add sand or something, then find the hole, set the pond and move on. However, today it rained ALOT and now the pond is about 1/2 full of water. Anyway, just wanting some feedback on the best way to rectify this situation. Thank you.

 

[Mmathis]

If you left the previous liner in place (when you backfilled it), did you perforate the liner (poke holes in it) or remove it? If not, then that still-in-place-liner is holding water, which could be what’s pushing up on the preform.

 

[french2s]

That is what I was afraid of. The liner was not accessible without removing all of the rock and I mean completely covered. I will have to see about a way to put a drain in or something. Ugh.

 

[Mmathis]

That is what I was afraid of. The liner was not accessible without removing all of the rock and I mean completely covered. I will have to see about a way to put a drain in or something. Ugh.

Can you just poke through it with something sharp — kinda like poking a potato before you microwave it?

 

[french2s]

Maybe. We've had about 4 inches of rain in 24 hours so will have to wait until it dries out and pull the pond form out and see what I can do. Thanks!