We are building a house on some stripmined land. Behind the house is an old highwall (a vertical rock face where thery dug the dirt away). The highwall is about 40 feet high and 65 feet wide. A the bottom of the wall is a pond that fills after the rain and slowly drains or dries away. I think it drains out the bottom but I don't know for sure. At its' fullest the pond is about 25 ft wide and 75 ft long but usually is about half that. I have never seen it completely empty. Lots of frogs live there. The water is prettry black which I think is from the leaves of diciduous trees beside the pond. I would like to build a waterfall maybe about two feet wide to fall over the center of the rock down to the pond below. There are three problems I foresee.
Problem one how do I keep the pond from shrinking. I know I will probably have to empty it first. Then do I cover the bottom with concrete or can I spray stuff to waterproof it. The ground is mostly sand with lots of rocks (shale and sandstone) with a think covering of humus. At the bottom of the pond I expect guck. I do not have a lot of money but am willing to work at it. Should also mention here there are two REALLY BIG rocks in the pond about 4 ft tall by3 ft wide by 6 ft long is the biggest the other is about 3ft tall by 2 ft by 3ft so I would have to work around them. Is it silly to do this without usung a bobcat or something? Any idea how much any solutions might cost? When the pond is done I want it to have fish and plants.
Problem two how do I make the waterfall? I could make a pond further up the hill and build a stream or simply pipe water from it to the top of the rock. Or I could pump the water from the pond to the top of the rock. Which would be better?
Problem three pond maintenance. I would like to prevent or a least minimize mosquitoes and algae. I have heard about using barley straw does that work? What is the best way to deal with leaves falling in the pond.
Thanks
Pond & waterfall on stripmined land
Greetings,
You could pump the water out with a sump pump to get a idea of depth and topography of the bottom. Then ya'll might need to do so sculpting to make it like you want. especially around the edges for plants and rocks. You could use bentonite clay to make it hold water which is what they do with many large stock ponds or golf course ponds. I am not sure about the particulars of using it but check out these links. Another option is a EDPM 45MIL liner but that could be a bit pricey. But what would be really cool is a natural swimming hole. They are all the rage in Europe and getting more popular here. With a huge waterfall falling in it it would be so cool and you could still have plants in it in the area built to provide water filtration. However I've read in the USA many are doing modifies natural swimming ponds and using H2O2 for which if you did not use too much would allow you to still have plants.
Keeping leaves out would require a net. I have seen ponds with a netting system that looks similar to a circus tent without the sides to keep out leaves or herons from the fish. They look pretty nice and are very unobtrusive. I would keep it as simple as possible and just pump the water to the top of the rock, possibly to a filter system and let it fall straight down. you will have to have a liner to keep the water from seeping in the ground. You could use a 300 gallon stock tank as the filter reservoir and there are various filter material you can use. Disguise the tank with plants or rocks or even sink it in the ground. You could use lots of things like the ends of pipes that have been cut off at construction sites and just pump the water up to it and let it flow out right into the pond for your waterfall. If you ask lots of time they will give it to you. The biggest expense will be the pump, to pump your water that high you need a good pump. Check with companies that installs wells in your area. It seems to me a well pump would be a good thing to use and maybe you can find a used one. When we renovated our well we kept the 1/2 HP pump when they installed a 3/4 HP for better water pressure. Nothing was wrong with it But whatever type of pump expect a higher electric bill. We have a 1 HP that pumps 5000 GPH that makes the waterfall look awesome but it has added about 50.00 a month to the electric bill. But at a 45' drop a waterfall in your pond would be a jaw dropper. On you rock face you could plant hardy ferns and have shelfs to sit plants in the summer.
Much of the work you could do yourself. I would think renting a small back hoe would be more useful than a bobcat. Then you could get close to the rocks and dig out around them for places to dive off or have deep cool places for fish to hide. Hope this gives you a few ideas. My only other advice is that if money is an issue plan your construction in stages so that you can have your pond but gradually do more as the funds become available. Good luck with the project. We are instilling a natural swimming pond this summer and I cannot wait to dive in. It will look like it is connected to the koi pond but will not actually share any water.
Bentonite lined ponds would be very cost effective and you can buy it very cheaply from a company that drills wells. They also will apply it for you or maybe provide some directions on how to do it. It must be sodium bentonite, not calcium bentonite that is used as a koi additive and is quite a bit more expensive than the sodium. This site has instructions on several different methods for lining a pond with SB.
http://www.sturgismaterials.com/bentonite.htm
Natural swimming ponds
http://www.totalhabitat.com/P&P.html
http://www.naturalswimmingpools.com/
Site with information on how to do it yourself.
http://www.pond-doctor-dave.com/
Loretta
PS-Love your screen name.
We built our pond ourselves and save lots of money.
Nice ideas!
Thanks that is helpful.
This thread inspired me and I started looking for info on bentonite clay. Apparently there is bentonite available that is between two layers of fiber. It comes on rolls. How cool is that?
savage-So many good ideas and so little money....or energy. lol
Loretta
It requires both of those, doesn't it? Money and energy.. and wherewithall! We recently finished ours, but that certainly doesn't mean we've finished with changes, problems, the learning process...
Have fun with it, and post lots of pics, Shadowgarden!
Brenda
Hey, Shadow, do you have a link regarding that bentonite liner with the fiber? That sounds cool.
Id be interested in that link too if you can find it!
:)