Small solar powered pond build

[combatwombat]

You'll have to remind me what the original construction was. You had a rubber liner, right?

 

[SoCal Pond]

Yes, 45 mil Firestone liner under the flagstone. There was a leak about half way up that I could not resolve. Every time I thought I had it fixed it was not to be. It could have been anywhere on that side of the pond behind the flagstone but I thought it was where I cut the hole for the skimmer. Then I changed it to an intake bay and patched it over and over again with no luck. My wife saw I was getting frusterated with the whole process and called our contractor to cement the whole thing in like the bog.

 

[SoCal Pond]

They returned early this morning and made a lot of noise cutting the flagstone to fit the pieces into place. Somehow there was a communication error on how to build the intake bays but I guess it will work out in the end.

Their idea might just be better in the long run. I had to replace the electric runs with 1 1/4" PVC in case I have to replace a motor later on. I also used small runs of 1 1/4" PVC where the tubing and wires run into the vaults. They did place them correctly. I was not expecting them to cover the space between the pump vault and the pond like in the picture below but it will work out just fine.

They should return tomorrow to clean it all up and I will fill up the pond when I get home ant treat it before I kick on the pumps.

 

[SoCal Pond]

Oh I am happy to post this.

They still need to return and clean up around the pond. They didn't make the intakes exactly as planned. But hey pond vaults sounds nice I guess. At least they are about 8" below the waterline now. I also used 1 1/4" PVC in case I need to swap out a motor later on.

The only downside of cementing in the pond is I lost a lot of volume. It looks like I will be limited in what fish I can add. + 300 gallons for the bog.

 

[addy1]

At least it is not leaking! That looks great.

 

[poconojoe]

View attachment 151746

I use a very similar device for measuring the water. It's great to know your pond/bog volume.
Plus, if you have treated water in your house and need to add water you know how much dechlorinator to add.

 

[SoCal Pond]

It has been a while since I updated but the pond was still leaking. It was on one side so the contractor was only pulling a few flagstone at a time and it was not fixing the problem. I knew there had to be a big hole half way down and another lower since it would go half way overnight then drop 2 inches per day almost to the bottom.

I finally asked him to remove all the flagstone and he did. Right away we found the source of both. There was one place where they did not cover the liner completely with cement and that was where the big leak was. There was another place just below it where the cement had a hole that the liquid rubber did not fill.

As I suspected it was on the other side of the pond and was probably the source of the leak since the beginning. It has now been 7 hours since I filled up the pond and the water is still touching the tape I marked when I filled it.

This has been a huge PITA but I did not want to spend time here moaning about the continued leaks. I can post now that it is resolved.

At least my lily plants have been doing great in tubs waiting for their permanent home.

Oops! I forgot to iron this one.

 

[SarahT]

Terrific to see your problem is resolved (fingers crossed), and the water lilies are beautiful, too.

 

[cas]

I am so glad to hear that you got the leak resolved! How frustrating it must have been.

 

[Hound Heaven]

It has been a while since I updated but the pond was still leaking. It was on one side so the contractor was only pulling a few flagstone at a time and it was not fixing the problem. I knew there had to be a big hole half way down and another lower since it would go half way overnight then drop 2 inches per day almost to the bottom.

I finally asked him to remove all the flagstone and he did. Right away we found the source of both. There was one place where they did not cover the liner completely with cement and that was where the big leak was. There was another place just below it where the cement had a hole that the liquid rubber did not fill.

As I suspected it was on the other side of the pond and was probably the source of the leak since the beginning. It has now been 7 hours since I filled up the pond and the water is still touching the tape I marked when I filled it.

This has been a huge PITA but I did not want to spend time here moaning about the continued leaks. I can post now that it is resolved.

At least my lily plants have been doing great in tubs waiting for their permanent home.

View attachment 153162

View attachment 153163

View attachment 153164

Oops! I forgot to iron this one.

View attachment 153165Great to hear your progress. The lilies look very happy!

 

[GBBUDD]

The contractor returned today and completed the inside of the bog filter. It looks much better. One thing he misunderstood was the manifolds were supposed to go under the gravel not on top of it. Oh well I will fix it this weekend.

View attachment 148664

He also brought more large pieces of flagstone to cover the skimmers and a shelf for the fish to hide in. I might just use the skimmer covers to make this larger and use some weathered wood I have to make the covers instead. This is 2 feet deep, why does it look like 6 inches?

View attachment 148665

I also decided that the two 240 GPH pumps would not be enough for the bog so I purchased two more 660 GPH pumps. I will have to shoehorn them into the skimmer boxes.

They also have a 1500 gph solar pump but it does not have a battery back up as yet . You could run the 1500 during the day along with a 660 and at night when the 1500 goes down let the 660 continue to run keeping the bog functioning and alive . 2000 gph will be a nice waterfall in your design

 

[SoCal Pond]

Thanks guys and gals, it has been really frustrating.

In 24 hours it only dropped 1/4". It was 95* today so that is evaporation.

 

[combatwombat]

Glad you finally got it sorted out. I probably would have kicked that contractor to the curb about 4 "second chances" ago.

 

[SoCal Pond]

Glad you finally got it sorted out. I probably would have kicked that contractor to the curb about 4 "second chances" ago.

Under normal circumstances that is exactly what I would do. I have definitely have had to hold my patience on this one. We have had him do a huge amount of work on our yard over the years and he has always done a great job for a very reasonable price in the past. From flagstone patios to roof repair it has always gone well.

This is the first time he has let me down.

Part of it is on me since I have spent the last 16 months doing a horrible commute with terrible hours so I did not get to see much of this build along the way until it was too late. The same goes for the "fixes". My wife tried her best but did not have the knowledge to translate what needed to be done for me.

Lucky for me I am now retired from my 34 year career and can be home to get this project finished in the way I want.

 

[GBBUDD]

congrads on the retirement. Just in time to enjoy the pond.

if a leak re-appears on you id look at the intake where horizontal meets vertical a common place for concrete to crack.