So I've been asked to recondition this pond...

[Dom]

And it is clearly a pond that was professionally constructed. The guy who constructed it was a big fish hobbyist like many of us here. Sadly, he's passed and his wife has asked me if there is anything I can do.

It is in sad shape; all of the fish are dead and the liner has a leak. I wouldn't know where to begin. I think a professional pond installation company is the way to go.

I don't know how to advise this this person and am seeking suggestions.

[MODS - Sorry about posting in this forum. Please relocate it as you deem necessary. Thank you.]

 

[Oldreefer44]

Agree that solution is professionals with maintenance service to keep it in good condition. Otherwise get rid of it.

 

[Dom]

Agree that solution is professionals with maintenance service to keep it in good condition. Otherwise get rid of it.

Getting "rid" of it has been discussed.

I suggested turning it into a garden.

 

[VintageReefer]

I would expect this to cost thousands of dollars to drain, replace/repair liner, refill, replace faulty filtration equip, restock fish etc

 

[VintageReefer]

A garden with a smaller pond installed inside might be a good option. A smaller pond could be setup under the bridge with the gardens on both sides.

 

[BubblesandSqueak]

looks like a simple liner replacement. though the top cement border blocks look cemented in place. she would need someone to maintain it afterwards. barley balls for outdoor ponds help. you'd need a heater to keep a hole in the top to allow toxins to escape when it freezes. if the leak is near the top, you could drain and put a liner patch on but it only holds for so long. assuming it was a Koi pond by the looks of it.

 

[Dom]

looks like a simple liner replacement. though the top cement border blocks look cemented in place. she would need someone to maintain it afterwards. barley balls for outdoor ponds help. you'd need a heater to keep a hole in the top to allow toxins to escape when it freezes. if the leak is near the top, you could drain and put a liner patch on but it only holds for so long. assuming it was a Koi pond by the looks of it.

Yes, I noticed that too. It appears that the liner was allowed to lay over the top and then held in place by stones. I can't imagine why they would have cemented those stones.

As I see it, all of those stones would have to be chopped out along the top to free up the liner for removal.

There are several tanks on here which are plywood builds coated with an epoxy. I was thinking that the liner could be pulled and the inside coated with epoxy. But it would depend with what is under the liner.

 

[Dburr1014]

I would think you would just lay a new liner over the top of the existing. Double layer if you will.

 

[VintageReefer]

I would think you would just lay a new liner over the top of the existing. Double layer if you will.

How about new liner on top and new layer of stone border to hold it

 

[Dom]

I would think you would just lay a new liner over the top of the existing. Double layer if you will.

Yes, but, to lay the new liner over the old one, the stones cemented together that hold down the liner still need to be removed.

 

[BubblesandSqueak]

Yes, but, to lay the new liner over the old one, the stones cemented together that hold down the liner still need to be removed.

Check the top stones. If they can break loose that’s the way to go. Just put down another liner. Lowe’s and HD sell them. Or buy online. Guessing the filter was left there after he died and froze over winter. Typically people dig a hole, fill back with sand for a soft bottom then lay a protective barrier then liner on top. Place heavy rocks on all the edges etc…and blend in the border. How deep is it? Will it freeze through if there’s fish? I think it needs to be about 4’ deep in part and a hole in ice to vent. Or fish removal each winter. I had planned y to I do a small pond here a long time ago but Koi are illegal here ($10k per fish).

 

[Dom]

Check the top stones. If they can break loose that’s the way to go. Just put down another liner. Lowe’s and HD sell them. Or buy online. Guessing the filter was left there after he died and froze over winter. Typically people dig a hole, fill back with sand for a soft bottom then lay a protective barrier then liner on top. Place heavy rocks on all the edges etc…and blend in the border. How deep is it? Will it freeze through if there’s fish? I think it needs to be about 4’ deep in part and a hole in ice to vent. Or fish removal each winter. I had planned y to I do a small pond here a long time ago but Koi are illegal here ($10k per fish).

This pond is 4-5 feet deep. It is about 12 feet across and 20 feet long.

Its too big of a job for one guy. I certainly don't want to get too involved. But I'd like to find a service that will come in and do the work.

This pond had Koi and catfish. Most of the fish succumbed to predators.

 

[VintageReefer]

This pond is 4-5 feet deep. It is about 12 feet across and 20 feet long.

Its too big of a job for one guy. I certainly don't want to get too involved. But I'd like to find a service that will come in and do the work.

This pond had Koi and catfish. Most of the fish succumbed to predators.

Sounds like after everything’s done it will need a net guard also

 

[Dom]

So today, I took a close look at this pond. There were pipes and wires everywhere.

For those of you familiar with ponds, this particular pond is oval and has two sump pumps installed on the back wall, at the center. One pump feeds off to the spill on the right and the other feeds the spill on the left.

The pump that feeds the left just whines as if something is jamming the impeller.

The pump that feeds the right spill is working, but flow is weak. Initially, there was no flow at all, but after turning the pump on and off a few times water began to flow. The flow increased every time I turned it off and then back on. This leads me to believe there may be an air bubble in the system.

So how do you prime the system?

 

[Dburr1014]

So today, I took a close look at this pond. There were pipes and wires everywhere.

For those of you familiar with ponds, this particular pond is oval and has two sump pumps installed on the back wall, at the center. One pump feeds off to the spill on the right and the other feeds the spill on the left.

The pump that feeds the left just whines as if something is jamming the impeller.

The pump that feeds the right spill is working, but flow is weak. Initially, there was no flow at all, but after turning the pump on and off a few times water began to flow. The flow increased every time I turned it off and then back on. This leads me to believe there may be an air bubble in the system.

So how do you prime the system?

Or maybe debris.

If it need to be primed, there should be a cap to fill with water before the pump.

 

[Dom]

Or maybe debris.

If it need to be primed, there should be a cap to fill with water before the pump.

Yes... I was looking for a port to connect a garden hose.

As it was explained to me, the irrigation company blows water out of the pond plumbing for the winter when they evacuate the sprinkler system.

I look at it the same way I look at a HOB overflow; the "U" tube needs to be primed for it to work. I'm thinking the same here.

Also, I now believe the plumbing may be leaking and not the liner. She filled the pond overnight, but we didn't see any water from the "leak" until after one of the pumps began running.

 

[Dburr1014]

Yes... I was looking for a port to connect a garden hose.

As it was explained to me, the irrigation company blows water out of the pond plumbing for the winter when they evacuate the sprinkler system.

I look at it the same way I look at a HOB overflow; the "U" tube needs to be primed for it to work. I'm thinking the same here.

Also, I now believe the plumbing may be leaking and not the liner. She filled the pond overnight, but we didn't see any water from the "leak" until after one of the pumps began running.

When we need to get coolant pumps back online at work, we have to flood the impeller.
Pumps don't suck unless designed for that. Once the impeller is flooded and pump turned on, it pulls water upline as it evacuates the impeller outboard side.
It may be different than what you see but generally we have a large bowl with a cover. We pour water in, flood the impeller and bowl. Turn it on and done. Sometimes we may have to do that a couple times.

If your sucking air it should still work unless it's a break in the line. Small leaks just stuck in some air but continue to work.

 

[BubblesandSqueak]

This pond is 4-5 feet deep. It is about 12 feet across and 20 feet long.

Its too big of a job for one guy. I certainly don't want to get too involved. But I'd like to find a service that will come in and do the work.

This pond had Koi and catfish. Most of the fish succumbed to predators.

yeah, raccoons will swipe fish too along with bears. its a good size. but if there's nothing in it it now, drop a submersible pump in to drain. remove the top stone border, a 30x40 liner or larger on top of the old one start to refill. place a large rock on each corner so it does fall in then once the liner molds with weight of water, replace the stones around it and trim the outside of the liner (or fold under if you can). filling that with dirt would be a lot more work. you'd have to cut out the liner then dump all that fill in there. all the work to replace the liner is really that top border. other option is place the liner right over the top border fill with water then add a new border right on top of that. new liner would probably be like $800.

I once had an above ground swimming pool that probably had a 40'x40' sand area that it sat on. pool sprung a leak. got rid of the pool and chose to plant grass there. I manually removed probably 4-6" of sand and dumped it on the side of my property. then ordered I think 20 tons of dirt that was dropped in the front driveway and had to move it by shoveling into a lawn tractor cart and dumping it in piles, smoothing out, seeding etc...I would NEVER do that again. Filling it in, hire someone with equipment!

would like to add that if there's water in it to a certain level now, just try and patch it with pieces of liner and silicone? I'd try that if she was just looking to post the house to the market. they also make 5" wide liner seam tape. just google it in pond supplies. Not sure I'd trust the rubber paint on something old.

 

[BubblesandSqueak]

Yes... I was looking for a port to connect a garden hose.

As it was explained to me, the irrigation company blows water out of the pond plumbing for the winter when they evacuate the sprinkler system.

I look at it the same way I look at a HOB overflow; the "U" tube needs to be primed for it to work. I'm thinking the same here.

Also, I now believe the plumbing may be leaking and not the liner. She filled the pond overnight, but we didn't see any water from the "leak" until after one of the pumps began running.

since winter is coming, why not just get a fountain pump to drop in the middle of the pond and run the hose into the top overflow section. would at least circulate some water and then it's easy to just pull it out and store in garage. I still have the one from my small "plastic" pond that I use to drain the ice rink in spring.

 

[Dom]

yeah, raccoons will swipe fish too along with bears. its a good size. but if there's nothing in it it now, drop a submersible pump in to drain. remove the top stone border, a 30x40 liner or larger on top of the old one start to refill. place a large rock on each corner so it does fall in then once the liner molds with weight of water, replace the stones around it and trim the outside of the liner (or fold under if you can). filling that with dirt would be a lot more work. you'd have to cut out the liner then dump all that fill in there. all the work to replace the liner is really that top border. other option is place the liner right over the top border fill with water then add a new border right on top of that. new liner would probably be like $800.

I once had an above ground swimming pool that probably had a 40'x40' sand area that it sat on. pool sprung a leak. got rid of the pool and chose to plant grass there. I manually removed probably 4-6" of sand and dumped it on the side of my property. then ordered I think 20 tons of dirt that was dropped in the front driveway and had to move it by shoveling into a lawn tractor cart and dumping it in piles, smoothing out, seeding etc...I would NEVER do that again. Filling it in, hire someone with equipment!

would like to add that if there's water in it to a certain level now, just try and patch it with pieces of liner and silicone? I'd try that if she was just looking to post the house to the market. they also make 5" wide liner seam tape. just google it in pond supplies. Not sure I'd trust the rubber paint on something old.

The pond was filled yesterday with the idea that the water level would only drop down to the level of the hole. If it is high enough on the liner, perhaps we could run the pond as is. Also, finding the leak along the water line once the leak stopped should make it easy to find.

But here is something new. Once the pond was full, there were no signs of a leak. It was only after I got one of the pumps going that I started seeing water. So the leak may be in the plumbing.