Troubleshooting Pond Leaks

Clean-Out

Step 1: Does The Pond Actually Have A Leak?
Often, the new pond owner doesn’t realize how much water can evaporate from a pond during the dog days of summer.

Most ponds typically lose 1” to1 1/2” inches of water each week.
Contractors and homeowners down in the hot, arid southwest, such as Arizona, have reported evaporation levels in excess of 3” a week.
Remember, these are averages. Some ponds may not experience evaporation levels this high, while other ponds with large pumps pushing high volumes of water, and/or ponds designed with multiple waterfalls with a lot of cascades and splashing, may have evaporation rates much greater than these.

Step 2: Look For Low Edges

Here’s a little secret. 99% of all leaks are not due to a hole in the liner, but rather water making its way over the edges of the pond, stream, or waterfalls.
Look for any low edges. Settling at the pond’s edge is the most common cause of a leak, especially in a new pond.
Typically, the low edges are found around the stream and waterfall where settling may have occurred after a few rainfalls. These areas are usually built up during the construction of the pond using the soil from the excavation, and are prone to some settling.
Look for signs of a low edge.
Wet mulch along the edge of the pond or stream.
Wet gravel along the edge of the pond or stream.
You may need to move back the gravel in certain areas to find the low edge.

How To Fix A Low Edge
Low edges can be built back up by simply back filling and compacting soil beneath the liner in order to raise the edge of the liner above the water level.

Step 3: Look For Obstructions In The Stream And Waterfalls

Check to make sure nothing is causing the leak by restricting the flow of water down the waterfalls or stream. The pond owner may have adjusted some of the rocks in the waterfalls in order to improve the look of the falls, inadvertently causing some of the water to be diverted over the liner. We’ve actually had customer’s kids relocate rocks in the streams in order to create a battlefield for their army men.
Water can also make its way over the edge due to excessive plant or algae growth in the stream or BIOFALLS®. The water simply gets backed up from all of the plant growth. Plants and algae should be maintained by trimming them back in order to let the water pass freely.
All in all, these leaks are extremely easy to fix. You can save yourself some time down the road by spending a few extra minutes with new pond owners at the time of installation teaching them how to identify and fix minor leaks such as these.

Step 4: Shut Down The Pump

You’ve spent 15 minutes or so following the suggestions listed above and you still can’t find the leak. What do you do next? Well, we now have to go one step further and try to narrow things down a little more.

Turn off the pump and leave the pond for a period of 12 or more hours.
Revisit the site after 12 hours, and see if the water level has dropped.

Service Areas

We service the Rochester, NY and surrounding areas.

Clean out charges

A Spring Clean-Out is approximately $285-$600 on average plus product

Payment is due upon completion

credit or debit card information is necessary

Brent Bivona, Owner

Thank you and we look forward to helping you have a successful pond season!!

Do you offer pond maintenance service?

Yes! we offer several options to keep and maintain your pond “party ready” throughout the season.

When are cleanouts performed?

****Cleanout service typically begins the first or second week of April (weather permitting) and ends the first or second week of June. However we do offer Cleanout service throughout the season when needed.

How much is a Cleanout?

(*** to see National Avg. Pond cleaning prices as per HomeAdvisor.com***)

A Spring Clean-Out is approximately $300-$750 on average plus product. Payment is due upon completion, credit or debit card information is necessary to secure your sign-up. **Very small ponds can be less, as well as larger ponds or very dirty ponds can be more.** This does not include product such as bacteria, barley extract, light bulbs etc.

**NOTE: Due to the rise in credit card fees we will be charging a 3.5% fee on any Square credit card transaction. To avoid the additional % fee, our preferred method of payment is cash, Venmo, check or Zelle. Thank you for your understanding but we are no longer able to absorb these fees. Thank you.

Deposit Required to reserve your spot on the calendar.

In order to secure your Pond Request, we require you to provide a debit or credit card # for immediate billing upon completion of the clean-out. We also take Cash, Checks and Paypal. We are no longer sending out Invoices. If you need to make other arrangements please call or text to 585-337-2468. Thank you!

Clean-Out