A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2004 Garden pond water level?

Hi, My son & I put in a small (8'x6') garden pond a week ago. We made very sure the hole was level, using a carpenter's level. It is 28 inches deep in the center & it has an 8" deep by 8" wide plant shelf around the entire rim. It has a liner. We lined with sand & carpet before the liner went in. OK...my question is this: Why can't I keep my water level up to the top of my pond? There are no leaks, we have checked & rechecked, but my pond stops holding water at about 5 inches below ground level. We have the outside rim of the pond decorated in mini boulders collected off my property & it looks so much nicer when the water level stays up to the bottom rim of the rocks. This camoflagues the liner. But with the water level always going down 5" I see black liner all around the perimeter of the pond which needless to say doesn't look very natural or attractive. Any suggestions as to why my pond won't hold water? If I fill the pond to the rim, the water leaks out within 15 minutes every time, and I am sure it is not a tear or hole in the liner. This really has me stumped. Thanks for any help you can offer. Chrissy

Chrissy,
I'm not into ponds, but we do have several gardeners that do have them, GardenCrazy, Njoynit, Papito.....one or two more I'm sure,
but give them some time to cruise thru, Njoynit's having computer problems right now and does try to check in when she can!!
And GardenCrazy comes thru in a little bit too~~

Weezie

Sounds like a great little pond!!!!

Chrissy,
Hi!
I am no expert on ponds but it sounds to me like your liner is wicking. Do you have any plants hanging over the edge that can reach the water? I read somewheres that a fold in a liner can wick too. Do you have a waterfall?
Sure hope you can find out where the water is going. I know it is a head ache.
Pond leaks

Gardencrazy

Hi Chrissy,

We have one 85-gal. aquarium and three 32-gal. pre-formed above ground ponds. Not familiar with in-ground ponds, but I found this site that might be of some help.

How to build a water garden or a fish pond

Hi Chrissy,
One option would be to dig the sides of your pond down to the point where the water levels off. That should fix it even if its a leak.