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Evaporation or leak?
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Posted by HissyFit UK (My Page) on Fri, Jun 24, 05 at 5:13
| I topped up my 6000+ litre pond at the beginning of the week, with about 350 litres because level had dropped an an inch or two. Now it looks like it already needs another 200 lite+ top-up.
Would this sound about right for evaporation loss, in this weather? Or should I worry about a leak somewhere?
It's been blazing hot all week where I am - about 26-30 degrees or more every day, and no rain. My pond is roughly 4m x 3m and 90cm at it's deepest point, but with wide shallow planting shelf round most of trhe outside, and a second (deeper) level of shelves further in... i have about 50% surface coverage with various plants, duckweed and azolla. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Evaporation or leak?
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| My pond always needs at least an inch of water every week during hot weather (vol is about 800gal) - water is lost not only from the water surface but from things like cascades, and also through plants, which if kept permanently moist (eg on a shelf in the pond)grow furiously and lose water (well mine do!)- but this loss is of cause minor compared to evaporation. Just do the obvious and check all connections for tightness.
Once Autumn comes you can probably get a better look at the pond, when the plants have died down.
Stew |
RE: Evaporation or leak?
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Hello, my huge pond (43ft long, 13ft wide) is practically empty (from 2feet to 4inches deep now) - thanks to no rain for months. I haven't topped it up because I think tap water would kill the wildlife.
Praying for rain! |
RE: Evaporation or leak?
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| Stew, thanks, that's reassuring. There's nowhere for the plumbing to lose water - by design, leaks from faulty connections would stay "in the system", so the only possibilities would be a hole in the hose from pond to filter (this would be easily spotted); an overflow somewhere in the pond return (again, easily spotted); or a hole in the pond liner AND the one under that, from the previous pond incarnation). The pond liner is thick EDPM rubber so it's unlikely to have a hole... however, my cat has (hilariously!) fallen in the pond once and could have made a hole with her claws in her scrabble to get out. And she might have fallen in other times when I wasn't there to see it (I've seen several near-misses when she's chased flying insects and forgotten where she was...!) Kate, ah, well I use a dechlorinating water treatment that's meant to turn tap water into pond-safe water... I have lots of "wildlife", plants, fish, and a bio-filter and they don't seem to be affected. I just stick a water butt next to the pond, put some treatment in and fill it up from a hose... then turn on the tap on the water butt. But then that's easy for me because my pond volume is much smaller than yours... I only have to do that 2 or three times each top up. I reckon you'd be at it for days doing the same with a pond like yours, not to mention the cost of the water treatment. |
RE: Evaporation or leak?
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| I have lost about 1/2" over the last week and it hasnt been blazing hot plus we have had the odd shower so your losses are not unreasonable. |
RE: Evaporation or leak?
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| Thanks for the thread, I have been wondering about the issues regarding topping up. My pond is a good sized, wildlife pond (no mechanics) and of course there is evaporation when it's hot. I can run a hose from the rain butt to top it up, but I can only do that once between rainstorms. I tried avoiding using tap water otherwise, but it does go down quite a bit. There is a pebble beach which homes quite a lot of creatures, including the tadpoles which are still quite numerous, and I have been relunctant to let that area dry out, so this year I have topped up with tap water as well, a little at a time. So far that seems to have been ok. I know more exotic fish are very sensitive to water changes, but does anyone know what the risks are for wildlife? I am very relunctant to use chemicals anymore. I'm not adverse to a greenish pond, as long as the critters are happy...but if the aren't... |
RE: Evaporation or leak?
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I have found that a little topping up with tap water doesn't do any harm. I guess it all depends on the area you live in but Manchester adds chlorine to its tap water.
When the fox caused my leak, digging its claws in after froggies I had to run a hose in for about an hour, but I did add a conditioner during this major top up.
I don't run any mechanical pumps or filters and my wildlife don't appear to suffer !
Dave |
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