Has anyone ever used bentonite to seal a pond.The pond im working on is only drainage water no spring or water table supplying it.the pond fills up good with run off but drains out fast .It does have 6 to 8 inches of clay in it but all sand and gravel under that.I did not build the pond a custumer that bought the place is trying to get it to hold water.I was told the bentonite would work if i disked it in to the exsisting clay but need some sort of ratio to figure how much i need just curious if any one has experience with this thanks.
pond sealer.net
I have never personally used it, but I friends that have. They said it worked well. The ratio appears to be 5 parts soil to 1 part bentonite applied after removal of the top 5" of the bottom of the pond. Once mixed, compact the soil. I found more information at www.jpself.com/bentonite which you may find helpful or just Google bentonie pond sealer.
thanks guys
pumped tons of it into ponds.... throw the pump truck's hose in the pond... then start unloading the mixer into the hopper... Surprisingly enough It works .. it circulates around the pond.. turns it the color of the bentonite... then settles to the bottom .... As for the quantity can't remember .. what ever filled an 8 yard mixer... one sack at a time.... man did that suck
I use it to seal irrigation ditches. Works like a champ.
Heavylift, sounds like a good way to go. Do you have anymore details you could provide on that method. Would you go this method on a smaller pond, say 60-80 foot diameter? also, if you wanted to line the pond with some sort of gravel or rock, would it make sense to pump the bentonite in, let it settle in, then pump the pond down and line it with stone? thanks in advance!
This was done by an oil well cementing company.... we would set-up by the pond... throw a floating suction hose into the pond.... say to the left of the pump truck... the discharge would be thrown in the pond to the right...and pointed to discharge along the bank... then pump and it would circulate... I can remember doing several ponds that were about the size of two football fields... those we went back to the next day and did the same thing... as for your gravel bottom ...don't know..
great, thanks for the reply
gravel no no no no, we had to remove a pond damn once, the guy ripraped the whole pond, it didn't hold and there was nothing we could do to fix it. the bentanite is good stuff you need to use alot of it, mix it in and pack it down. we fixed dads pond and he wouldn't spring for the good stuff and we used lime dust from the bag houses at the local asphalt plants and it worked well
If you can see where the pond is leaking is the water clear or muddy, if it is clear the mud is stopping somewhere if it is muddy it is washing holes somewhere. Take a look at enzymes to seal it if it is clay. Look on the net for information on it. Good Luck