How to seal a pond?

[teletiger]

There was a thread on this a few years back but I can't find it in the search option.

I need to seal 2 smallish ponds. One goes down to nothing and the other for some reason will keep about 6 inches. Maybe that's the water table?
They're both about 1.5 metres deep and about 25/30 sq. metres in area.

I need to dig them both out a little.

Regards.

[tim armstrong]

I've had a thread on this before. This is a subject close to my wallet. We've had several attempts at lining our pond. To date all have failed. We rejected plastic liners as they seem to degrade quickly. After a couple of concreting attempts - that cracked, we are rethinking at the moment. Our problem is partly the soil, which is very porous. It may also be a pond building problem, also the other side of the road has rice fields with much heavier compact soil that easily holds water, which the pond area doesn't. If you find a solution let me know. Sorry I can't be more helpful

[teletiger]

Thanks for the imput Tim. My research has thrown up Bentonite. Sodium Bentonite to be exact. It's clay in a powder form. The spreading rate depends on the soil composition. The average is 1 kilo per sq ft of pond, going up to 2 kilos for sand.

The cost? Cheap as chips all over the world except Thailand. A 2010 price (the latest I've got so far) is 8 Baht per Kilo, from Thai/Nippon chem. in Bangkok. Add Transport.

As an aside, using the pond as a feedlot during the dry season has thrown up some good results as far as sealing ponds goes. Apparently, all that trampled in organic material acts as a natural liner. I'm off to rustle the neighbour's herd.
Regards.

Edit: One could, I suppose, chuck a hundred or so bags of Kee Vuar in there, add a few bales of straw and throw the wife in?

Edited December 21, 2013 by teletiger

[tim armstrong]

Thanks for the imput Tim. My research has thrown up Bentonite. Sodium Bentonite to be exact. It's clay in a powder form. The spreading rate depends on the soil composition. The average is 1 kilo per sq ft of pond, going up to 2 kilos for sand.

The cost? Cheap as chips all over the world except Thailand. A 2010 price (the latest I've got so far) is 8 Baht per Kilo, from Thai/Nippon chem. in Bangkok. Add Transport.

As an aside, using the pond as a feedlot during the dry season has thrown up some good results as far as sealing ponds goes. Apparently, all that trampled in organic material acts as a natural liner. I'm off to rustle the neighbour's herd.

Regards.

Edit: One could, I suppose, chuck a hundred or so bags of Kee Vuar in there, add a few bales of straw and throw the wife in?

Teletiger, long time in replying. I'm about to have another go at the pond. Thanks for the tip about bentonite. I'm about to go to our new and struggling HomePro to try and persuade them to get some in. Funny in Thailand, many shops are reluctant to order what that haven't got already. I'll also try Thai Nippon

[bunnydrops]

I think that is what I used back in the states. It worked well. You just throw it in the water and it is pulled into the leak. But a 1.5 m deep pond is not very deep. At this time of year here, all the ponds go down fast. I have shot the tops of some of the big and small and the top of the water is about the same. Lowering water table?

[iancnx]

I have a pond to fill also. Have read about the bentonite though not yet ready to pursue yet. Drilling a well soon and want to see if a daily pumping will maintain the level needed. About 2m deep lots of potential tree roots so I don't think it will ever be 100%. Planning to farm tubtim

[iancnx]

I wonder if global house will do the bentonite.

[teletiger]

We've got a well beside our pond. The pond doesn't completely dry out, leaves about 6 inches or so, which I presume is the water table level. It makes harvesting the fish a doddle.

Maybe 400/500 litres a day would keep the pond topped up. Locals reckon we could keep 1000 catfish in there!

The pond is fed by the local dam releasing water for the paddies. (thanks to a nice little brook/burn that bisects the property)

Good idea about Global House Ian. I presume cnx stands for CM. They'll be wondering about all the recent bentonite requests.

Regards

[iancnx]

Thanks for the imput Tim. My research has thrown up Bentonite. Sodium Bentonite to be exact. It's clay in a powder form. The spreading rate depends on the soil composition. The average is 1 kilo per sq ft of pond, going up to 2 kilos for sand.

The cost? Cheap as chips all over the world except Thailand. A 2010 price (the latest I've got so far) is 8 Baht per Kilo, from Thai/Nippon chem. in Bangkok. Add Transport.

As an aside, using the pond as a feedlot during the dry season has thrown up some good results as far as sealing ponds goes. Apparently, all that trampled in organic material acts as a natural liner. I'm off to rustle the neighbour's herd.

Regards.

Edit: One could, I suppose, chuck a hundred or so bags of Kee Vuar in there, add a few bales of straw and throw the wife in?

Teletiger, long time in replying. I'm about to have another go at the pond. Thanks for the tip about bentonite. I'm about to go to our new and struggling HomePro to try and persuade them to get some in. Funny in Thailand, many shops are reluctant to order what that haven't got already. I'll also try Thai Nippon

Please let us know how you got on with the bentonite

[tim armstrong]

Our pond is quite large - 20m X 12m and is dry at present, so we are just starting to do some surface repairs, then we will try the bentonite. I will keep you posted.

[Canada]

I have a small pond with a well beside it. I top it up once every couple of weeks. I do have 1000 small catfish in it. They're not so small now. The pond is about 8x8 (meters).Only about a meter of water. I grow the fish for fun. Kids enjoy fishing in it.

[BoogerRed]

For the Bentonite, seek out an oilfield fluids/mud supplier. Mostly in the coastal/Bangkok area. It's a dirt cheap commodity product that they'll have tens of pallets in stock.

-says BoogerRed

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Cylon]

Take one Seal...........

[iancnx]

Take one Seal...........

? Is that a brand?

[bunnydrops]

This from Wiki

"In Thai farming

The application of clay technology by farmers in Northeast Thailand, using bentonite clay, has dramatically reversed soil degradation and resulted in greater economic returns, with higher yields and higher output prices. Studies carried out by The International Water Management Institute and partners in 2002–2003 focused on the application of locally sourced bentonite clays to degraded soils in the region. These applications were carried out in structured field trials. Results from these studies showed that applying bentonite clays effectively improved yields of forage sorghum grown under rain-fed conditions.^[14][15]

Bentonite application also influenced the prices that farmers received for their crops. Production costs are higher, but, due to more production and the quality of the food, clay farmers could afford to invest and grow more and better food, compared to non clay-using farmers. ^[16][17]"

It seems that it shouldn't be that hard to find

Edited February 1, 2014 by bunnydrops

[gazwa]

I used bentonite 30 years ago in OZ to seal a 150,000 litre dam...worked a treat!

[cooked]

I once found, on Youtube, a video of guys in a motorboat throwing Bentonite into the water through the propeller of the boat which dispersed it nicely. It must work as the 'pond' (more of a lake really) must have involved a heavy investment.

[iancnx]

I used bentonite 30 years ago in OZ to seal a 150,000 litre dam...worked a treat!

Thanks for posting. How many cubic meters would that be? How did you apply / use the bentonite?

[gazwa]

Ian, from memory we used around 30-40x 20kg bags. The dam was approx 2-3 mtrs deep and 5 mtrs diameter. Dry season would leave about 1 mtr water so followed advice from nieghbours, who had used and and recommended Bentonite. We emptied around 20 bags into the dam and stomped it into a slurry. Then wet down the dry walls and spread the slurry around the walls. When the dam next filled we threw the remaining bags on the surface and let everthing settle. Dam held well after this treatment....long time ago, but I hope this helps.

[iancnx]

Ian, from memory we used around 30-40x 20kg bags. The dam was approx 2-3 mtrs deep and 5 mtrs diameter. Dry season would leave about 1 mtr water so followed advice from nieghbours, who had used and and recommended Bentonite. We emptied around 20 bags into the dam and stomped it into a slurry. Then wet down the dry walls and spread the slurry around the walls. When the dam next filled we threw the remaining bags on the surface and let everthing settle. Dam held well after this treatment....long time ago, but I hope this helps.

Really useful info. Many thanks.

[Showbags]

Good info...now where to get it and how much...8b a square foot sounds expensive.

We just built a pond today actually...finished over last 3 days.....about 50m x 20m and currently only 2m deep, when she dries out some more shall deepen it to 4m if we can...but the water table is really high, about 1m below the surface.

I wish to seal it as it does drop easily around here as it dries out, so would like to keep it up at a constant level if possible.

On another note....how to clear muddy water, have heard about throwing lime into it...does this actually work and if so, how much...if not, any other way ?

[ozzydom]

Good info...now where to get it and how much...8b a square foot sounds expensive.

We just built a pond today actually...finished over last 3 days.....about 50m x 20m and currently only 2m deep, when she dries out some more shall deepen it to 4m if we can...but the water table is really high, about 1m below the surface.

I wish to seal it as it does drop easily around here as it dries out, so would like to keep it up at a constant level if possible.

On another note....how to clear muddy water, have heard about throwing lime into it...does this actually work and if so, how much...if not, any other way ?

Gypsum or powdered limestone will both help clear muddy pond water,they should be pre-mixed to a liquid and sprayed over the pond surface at a rate of about 200-300kg per rai.

Alum (aluminium sulfate ) is the best but will lower PH and increase acidity so must be used in conjunction with lime.

[Showbags]

Good info...now where to get it and how much...8b a square foot sounds expensive.

We just built a pond today actually...finished over last 3 days.....about 50m x 20m and currently only 2m deep, when she dries out some more shall deepen it to 4m if we can...but the water table is really high, about 1m below the surface.

I wish to seal it as it does drop easily around here as it dries out, so would like to keep it up at a constant level if possible.

On another note....how to clear muddy water, have heard about throwing lime into it...does this actually work and if so, how much...if not, any other way ?

Gypsum or powdered limestone will both help clear muddy pond water,they should be pre-mixed to a liquid and sprayed over the pond surface at a rate of about 200-300kg per rai.

Alum (aluminium sulfate ) is the best but will lower PH and increase acidity so must be used in conjunction with lime.

Thanks...you say 'help'...so does it actually turn it clear or at least somewhat clear ?

Any idea how much that stuff costs ?

And...does it have a lasting effect ?

We will not attempt it for some time, want to let the whole pond settle down, vegetations, reeds, lilies etc establish all around it and would then give it a go.