Thread: How to seal a duck pond?

think you may have a problem - your ponds upside down! Thats why all the water is draining out.

Originally Posted by poc30

I'm not sure if it would work for pumice but salt destroys soil structure and prevents drainage on some (most?) soil types. Could be an easy fix if it works. I would've thought that lime would been beneficial to soil drainage since it opens up soil generally and would cause you more issues but I'm not familiar with how pumice soil would react

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What he said. Lime opens up most soils through flocculation, Salt tends to tighten most soils up. Basic soil science 101.

lime on farm tracks forms puddles........its very fine,like clay so settles into fine dense layer..........or you could do a Rooney trick and just keep chucking tons n tons of river silt at problem and hope it will magically seal up,as he has done with canals.....oh thats right,he has now gone back and plastic lined them at least down to his farms anyway.

Originally Posted by Remmodel7

Any tips on how to seal a duck pond
Pond was previously held a little water and was in a pastoral area. It was fenced off and planted and has not really held water since. The soil is pumice with no clay or silt content.
Any tips to help seal the pond without lining with plastic.
Cheers

Bentonite would be ideal, it's a clay that will swell up with water making a nice seal. It's the stuff they use to line landfills, its to try stop nasty stuff leaching out into ground water.
Any other clay would also work, something nice and sticky that water cant get through.

Around Rotorua I'd imagine there will be commercial suppliers of clay. Lots of nice geothermal activity so the ingredients are there for clays to form.

Simple the bottom end dam, build solid banks Punga logs with creepers or fearns ...something cattle are not as keen to chew! Hunt out some watercress roots and all , chuck in a feijoa of two

Originally Posted by Remmodel7

Cheers for the input guys.
Could try the lime. Not sure where to get clay around here but could have a look.
Yep trying the cattle and hay currently. Working ok.
Attachment 138779
Keep the ideas coming. The cheaper the better

It looks great with that planting hopefully you Can get that water to stay in it over the next few years.

Originally Posted by Remmodel7

Any tips on how to seal a duck pond
Pond was previously held a little water and was in a pastoral area. It was fenced off and planted and has not really held water since. The soil is pumice with no clay or silt content.
Any tips to help seal the pond without lining with plastic.
Cheers

Start with the cow trick!

What did you plant around it? Some trees can suck up a load of water. Also what sort of spring if any is feeding it? Last of all what is the drain/dam out like?
We found that the good old eel was a bugger at putting holes through, under and around the dams. Used plastic builders bags filled with sand to seal the main drains then sawdust soaked first to plug the main cracks (Old Kauri dam trick that one). If you have a dry winter try draining it stright after the season and then patching and holes you find in the foor of the pond. Use this time to the build a good dam on the outlet drain. Your not fighting against the water, if the pond is empty. If you can make a shoot ie a channel out of 44 gallon drums with a section in the middle which you can block with a bit at the top for over flow. This should do it.
Then clear your spring in drain at let it fill. Spring time and watch for weed clean out as you find. Flounder nets work quite well. Add a few nesting boxs and plant flax and honeysuckle around your Miamai, this will save you on cutting down loads of tea tree.
Hope this helps and it will set you up for next season.
Nesting boxs heres a good link you need to set these up as soon as you stop shooting so that the birds get used to them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RkIo2zx-sw

These boxs work a treat. You do need to reline em once a year. They take a few slices from a convetional haybale to fill. If you use cable ties it makes that job faster. Also refill the inside once you see the first load hatch. If its not used in the first two years then move.

Oh and keep the stock out once you havesealed it, you dont need them eating all your nice plantings and nesting boxes

The 44gallon drum trick. Get two 44 gallon drums and cut the ends out of them.
Next two dig the outlet drain out lay one in so that the water will flow through. Then fill it in. Might pay to add some old posts on top for when it rusts away unless you use plastic drums. Then dig out and lay the next one in behind the first one but leave a gap in the middle. I would make this gap big enough for one person to work in around 700 to 800mm. Fill in the same as the first one.
This gap you line the bed and sides with plastic to stop the eels from digging through. Then you can place your sandbags in front of this last drum, with an overflow gap. You can get technical and make a box section which you can then place boards and seal these with wet sawdust. you can then take the boards out or in to alter the level of your pond.

Cheers

Somebody mentioned Rooney. His company has designed and makes an effluent pond liner made from wool [I think] Its basically a very think wool blanket, no need for welding or joining seams etc, Just overlap it, and then cover with a layer of soil and silt and it works its way in to form a waterproof barrier, all very natural.