Ponds and Water Gardens - constant refilling

hi

let me be the first post

i live in pa. we're having a very cold january. i need to refill my pond (to keep the waterfall running ) every 12-24 hr.

i think water is evaporating and also more and more ice is being formed.

am i forever destined to having to brave cold weather to constantly refill the pond?

do i have to get an automatic refill valve?

thanks

diyguy,,

Evaporation during the winter should not be a problem, especially if there is ice on the pond.

I had a similar problem with my waterfall in Nov. I found I had a small capillary action leak. The liner was higher than tha water reservoir for the falls, but I found a constant dripping on one side. I raised the liner, removed the suspected fold in the liner and all is well now. I haven't had to add any water since the end of Nov.

I suspect you have a minor wf leak. If you have a bubbler/air stone in the pond, or can put one in now to keep a hole open in the ice, try turning the waterfall off to see if the water level drops.
Also, there may be a leak somewhere else. But start with the waterfall. Also watch for ice build up and damning which can cause your wf to overflow away from the pond and empty it if your pump is in the pond bottm.

The auto refill valve is a great idea. I have one but don't plan to install it until it starts to warm up.

let me know,
fred

thanks for your quick response

i don't think i have a leak. now that the temperature has been above 25 degrees at night, the water level is holding steady.

i do have a lot of ice in front of the falls. i do try to keep that area clear bu;t i have lost the battle. water splashes and sprays and makes more ice there. some water does get detoured on to the ice. i don't mind breaking the ice but this refilling is getting old. i hope i don't have to so this whenever the temps get below 20 for a high. around here it does happen fairly ofter but not 3weeks straight.

i hope i don;'t sound argumenative but i don't think i have a leak.
aside from the skimmer and the falls, there is not water to be seen. also, at the begining od this cold spell, it took me 45min to top off the pond. 4 weeks later, it was taking 10 min. i think the ice is taking up the volume.

one question:

if i were to turn off the falls would the pipe to the falls freeze and rupture? is there a check valve at the pump or in the line or would all the water flow back to the skimmer.

thanks for letting me ramble and vent. this refilling is frustrating.

Hello diyguy

I have been having the same problems the last two winter seasons - I finally figured out that when the air temps are getting really cold (-15C/5F) the water coming down the stream was ending up on top of the ice on the pond and freezing there, causing the water level under the ice to drop. I did note that the water by the pump was staying a constant 35F as long as it was moving, though...

I finally ended up taking the pump offline (had to physically remove the pump to prevent it being damaged by freezing - remember that if you do this, check the manual that came with it to find out if it should be stored in a bucket of water in the basement so the seals don't dry out) when going out with buckets of water every few hours to stop the levels from dropping to the point that the pump was drawing air got to be too much :( .

As Fred suggests, I have bubblers running from (indoor aquarium type) air pumps to keep (an) open area(s) in the ice and allow gas exchange. May be a bit late to try to install them now if your pond has frozen over solid, but you might be able to melt a hole in the ice in a deeper part of the pond with a propane torch and drop an air line in to keep the hole open; and/or this could be something to keep in mind for next winter. There are also floating heat rings available that will do the same thing.

There are automatic fill devices similar to the float valves in toilets that will allow the water to be replanished, but I think they are pretty nearly useless in freezing conditions as the feeder lines would freeze solid when the water in them wasn't moving (unless you can bury them below the frost line :rolleyes: ) If you remove the pump, the line feeding the stream/waterfall should drain sufficiently to not be affected by any water left in it and freezing. If you have a check valve behind the pump connection, probably best to remove it to allow the head from the waterfalls to drain.

Hope this helps.

Howie

howiek

thanks for verifing my theory.


i hope the rest of the winter is typical for around here. then i can figure ou t if i need to maybe put my pump in the middle of the pond (in a basket so the fish will be ok) and have it aerate there.


so far the temps have been 20-35 and i haven't had to add water

thanks again

Hello there. I just put a pond in and have had it up and running for about two weeks now. I combated the type of leaks you were talking about where the water fall gradually diverts water else where other than to the pond and I found where my underlayment was wicking the water from the pond up under the liner. I do however have some water loss due to evaporation and minor splashing, it gets about 3-4 hours of hot afternoon sun which is causing the evaporation I'm assuming along with the 90+ temps we started now. My ? is this, about every other day I have been putting in a watering bucket full of water (bout 2.5 gal roughly) and its not a real big deal, i figure it'll stop evaporating as much in cooler weather when I don't want to go out there as much. If I allow the buckets of water to sit for two days is that long enough to naturally let the chlorine evaporate out? I have five fish in there, three are koi, one black moore, and one walmart goldfish and no one is belly up yet, suprisingly!

Thanks in advance
Kel

Hi Kel,

I'm not the expert on chlorinated water since I've always had a well.
But I do know that 24 hours of sitting will be long enough for the release of any chlorine. (even quicker if it were aerated).

But there is a further consideration I've heard - chloramine. It does not exit the water as chlorine does. Some municipalities also add this to the water. You need to find out if it is added to the supply and hit the pet store for chloramine remover/neutralizer.

fred

Normally, if you are adding less than about 10% of the total water volume, the chemicals contained in the new water will be diluted enough to not be a hazard to fish and other life in your pond. As Fred indicated, a waterfall or fountain will hasten the discipation of the chemicals by increasing the aeration.

If in doubt though, you should be able to find a water prep that will hasten the elimination of the unwanted chemicals in you local aquarium specialty store or even the box type pet stores that are popping up now.

Howie

Right now other than the fact that they hide from me and won't eat yet the fish seem fine. Had water up and running for a week before I added fish and plants. I have definatly been adding less than 10% every day or every other day. Depends on hot it is out. Pond gets hot afternoon sun from about 12-5 plus with no shade so I'm pretty sure that is where the water is. I am going to see about getting some of the chemical dechlorinator/chloramine stuff.

Kel