UV Light, what to expect?

[Meyer Jordan]

Update: My unscientific experiment provided some unexpected results. After appx 24 hours, the amount of water evaporation in both buckets was virtually nill.

Not really surprising as, according to the USDA, the average daily pan evaporation rate for the Birmingham area for the week of Aug, 6 - 12 was 0.05 inches.
This means that you definitely have a leak, a pretty good size one, at that.

 

[vestaviascott]

Not really surprising as, according to the USDA, the average daily pan evaporation rate for the Birmingham area for the week of Aug, 6 - 12 was 0.05 inches.
This means that you definitely have a leak, a pretty good size one, at that.

Process of elimination continues. If the leak is in the upper basin area (my suspicion is that it is), then the water level should remain virtually unchanged for the next 24 hours.

We will see how that plays out, I'm already preparing myself for the possible deconstruction of the upper basin to ID the source of the leak.

 

[Lisak1]

I'm already preparing myself for the possible deconstruction of the upper basin to ID the source of the leak.

You sound so calm. I would be on the floor, weeping. "Deconstruction" gives me hives!

 

[vestaviascott]

Bypassing my fountain basin for the next 24 hours to gauge the effect on the water level and help isolate the source of my daily 40 gal pond water loss.

 

[vestaviascott]

You sound so calm. I would be on the floor, weeping. "Deconstruction" gives me hives!

I suppose because its been under constant construction for several months. I've been taking things really slow up to this point and not finalizing things until I could prove with absolute certainty things were ready to finalize.

So, the deconstruction of the pond's upper fountain basin is not going to be that difficult since nothing is permanently affixed there - its basically all "dry fitted" at this point while I observe how things operate.

The deconstruction is basically unstacking some blocks and placing them to the side, moving a bunch of rocks and pulling up the corners of the rubber liner to find what's going on.

That's assuming the main source of the leak is in the upper basin and NOT in the main pond. I'll know for sure this time tomorrow.

 

[Angel]

I suppose because its been under constant construction for several months. I've been taking things really slow up to this point and not finalizing things until I could prove with absolute certainty things were ready to finalize.

So, the deconstruction of the pond's upper fountain basin is not going to be that difficult since nothing is permanently affixed there - its basically all "dry fitted" at this point while I observe how things operate.

The deconstruction is basically unstacking some blocks and placing them to the side, moving a bunch of rocks and pulling up the corners of the rubber liner to find what's going on.

That's assuming the main source of the leak is in the upper basin and NOT in the main pond. I'll know for sure this time tomorrow.

Had to do the same when i had a leak shut of the falls/stream for 24 hrs. Found it in the pond area where i thought it was near the ledge lip in side. about 1.5' down ( had a submersible pump with a broken jagged foot) Good luck hopefully its a simple fix.

 

[IPA]

Looking through your pictures your cinderblocks appear to be very damp. Those things are so porous and the test you ran was blocking any airflow past and through to pores, it the small amount of water wasn't similar enough to the setup you have. Continue trouble shooting but before you think about tearing anything apart try sealing the cinderblocks or removing them and testing something else in their place that isn't so pourous. I'm talking about the one holding up the water channel. Think of the blocks similar to the media to house beneficial bacteria except they quite possible are media to promote evaporation.

You may also be loosing more to splashing then you realize.

 

[vestaviascott]

Looking through your pictures your cinderblocks appear to be very damp. Those things are so porous and the test you ran was blocking any airflow past and through to pores, it the small amount of water wasn't similar enough to the setup you have. Continue trouble shooting but before you think about tearing anything apart try sealing the cinderblocks or removing them and testing something else in their place that isn't so pourous. I'm talking about the one holding up the water channel. Think of the blocks similar to the media to house beneficial bacteria except they quite possible are media to promote evaporation.

You may also be loosing more to splashing then you realize.

Thanks. I really appreciate all the helpful advice and suggestions here.

My next test will probably be to test with the blocks removed and the water exiting in the upper basin over the rocks. That should help identify the effects of the blocks pourisity and the splashing of water.

 

[vestaviascott]

Update: Nearly 24 hours since I started the bypass test, I've lost about 3/8 inch of water (roughly 6-7 gallons). Over the same period with the fountain connected, it was 1.75 inches (about 40 gallons). So, a significant difference but I think 6-7 gallons is still more than I expected. I'm going to mark the level and measure again after another 24 hours to see if its stabilized. If so, I expect I have a corner fold that's dipped low to account for that loss of water.

Here's a pic of the current level. The starting point is represented by the white horizontal line you can see just above the water line - its about 3/8 inch.

 

[vestaviascott]

A few updates: After a few days of testing, through the process of elimination, It appears that the bulk of my water loss is due to two main factors:

1) Wicking of water up through the unsealed concrete blocks leading to excessive evaporation cycle.

2) Splashing of water from each end of my aluminum waterfall rill channel.

It does NOT appear that I have significant leaks (if any) in either upper or lower basin. I'm still checking to verify this, but I haven't yet been able to find any leaks here.

Issue #1 will eventually be much improved once I seal the concrete blocks with some combination of waterproofing/dry-lok and stucco. For the time being, to minimize the wicking of water through the unsealed blocks, I purchased a few 4 inch round plastic plant saucers that I'm going to place under the blocks to keep them dry.

For issue #2, I purchased a pack of scouring pads and placed under the fountain spill. The effect is pretty dramatic. Virtually no splash at all. However, the splashing water sound has lowered significantly as well.

 

[IPA]

I'll have exposed cinderbloks between pond and bog and found the drylock latex white and gray to be recommended and is aquatic safe according to the msds. They are both tintable.

 

[vestaviascott]

I'll have exposed cinderbloks between pond and bog and found the drylock latex white and gray to be recommended and is aquatic safe according to the msds. They are both tintable.

Thanks. It sounds like you are painting over the dry-lok, is that correct? In that case, I'd expect it could easily take paint.

What I'm doing is applying a stucco skim coat over the block. I'm not certain if the dry-lok can take a stucco coat without adding it into the mortar mix prior to application.

 

[IPA]

Thanks. It sounds like you are painting over the dry-lok, is that correct? In that case, I'd expect it could easily take paint.

What I'm doing is applying a stucco skim coat over the block. I'm not certain if the dry-lok can take a stucco coat without adding it into the mortar mix prior to application.

I hope to find the gray from a store that can tint it black but no, not painting over it.

 

[Lisak1]

Add this to the list of possibilities to the list of "do I have a leak, or..." answers! Glad to hear you've isolated the water loss. Onward and upward!

 

[sissy]

It may rust why not bunch up some window screening .