Hi, thought I'd share our experience with water loss from our pondless stream..the stream has three waterfalls and ends in a gravel bog (topped with river rock). The stream is 3 - 4 feet wide. The length of the stream is perhaps 60 feet. The bog is 6-7 feet round in diameter and I think it was at least 5 feet deep.
For the past year (all year --an entire year) we have been searching for a leak that dropped our water level 2 inches/day average. After ~ 2.5 weeks - of no replacing the water - the pump would shut down from not enough water. We pulled up all the rock along the entire stream looking for a leak, we examined the waterfalls, we uncovered all the buried pipe to look for leaks, we tracked, we measured, we marked, we prayed and we ranted (a lot). After many failed attempts to find the leak, our landscaper consulted with others and they decided that the problem was evaporation. Because of the number of waterfalls (where more water mixes with air) and because of the width of the stream, the bog -as built- didn't hold enough water. So, this past week the bog was emptied of stone, made larger and relined. We ended up with an oblong double the size of the original round, and the entire bog was dug to ~5 feet deep. Additionally more river rock was added to the bottom of the stream to make it more shallow to reduce the volume of stream water. I am disappointed because the old bog was sort of flush with the ground (the water coverage over the river rocks (WHEN IT HAD WATER) only two inches) Now, the sides of the bog are dry rock lined for two feet and the bottom holds water at about 7 inches --more pond like. I really liked just the two inches because the river rock's colors looked nice underneath the shallow water. Plus with the more shallow stream, it dashes my idea for gold fish to help with the algae. Currently, the pipe leading from the pump still comes out at the old bog level and I have this white plumbing pipe extending out to the middle of the bog about two feet in the air then disappearing underground heading to the fountainhead. I haven't spoken to the workmen yet but I am 'assuming' that pipe can and will be cut back and turned down vertically into the bog alongside the wall, and then made to run across into the pump vault under the water. If not, you will hear a lot of hollering from Hillsborough, NC come next week. Has anyone had similar issues?
Mystery Solved! (we hope)
My first thought was evaporation. It is an evil I deal with here in Louisiana. The pond and the pool I'm adding alot of water each week.
Do you have any before and after pictures to share?
Jeri
PS Paint the offending white pipe. Black usually fades into it's surroundings nice.
Hi
You would think the landscaper/designer would have considered evaporation earlier on in the search...with all the expense his business has had to support searching out the problem --- his designer did a great job drawing the plan we wanted but even tho we wanted the stream / bog..we relied on their training to design the specifics (volume/flow/reservoir etc.)
Regarding the pipe: I agree, making it black would be better than white (especially with that blue stenciling on it) but this pipe exits the pump vault --which is centered in the bog... then heads straight up about 2 feet and swings across the space a few feet and enters the side wall of the bog to meet up with the original water pipes. That is just not something I want. Totally blows the natural look. Looks like something you'd see in a water treatment plant. They have to figure something else out. - I'm not going the black paint route. I do have photos of the original --but not of the widening etc., when it is done I will post both.
Between the evaporation and the splashout, I bet I lose a couple inches a day. Especially when it is hot like this. A drop of water hits a rock and is almost immediately vaporized.
Yes, I am learning that it is an issue with water loss through evaporation for a lot of folks. Mostly what you hear about are the leaks, etc. When we approached the nursery/landscape folks with a design, one of the questions was related to how much do we have to attend to maintenance, and the response was you may have to top off the bog every few months --the bog should lose about an inch per month - and of course algae control. I was prepared for both, but it is aggravating to HAVE to fill the bog weekly keep the pump going and even more disappointing to have bone dry river rock filling the bog with no moisture whatsoever. All the plants died. If the solution was a bigger reservoir to keep the pump going, I think they should have had the knowlege to figure that out when the stream was being planned. We sometimes would get a free 'fill' with a good rainstorm (maybe you experience that in Fla. more then we do Rylaff) but we have had a real bad drought and I am worried about the well. Wells have been going dry all around. Ours is 450 feet deep, but I have heard of neighboring counties with new wells having to be drilled to 1000 feet and that isn't typical here. This landscape will take 4 years for me to pay off !! I sure as heck don't want to have to drill a well to support it!
We are in a similar situation. We are so far down on rain. The drought has gone on so long, I think we should rename Florida and call it Nevada or Arizona. My grass is shot. I have watered enough to keep the plants alive. It has been a strange year with the lack of rain and intense heat. Sometimes the heat index is 110!
Oh, I didn't know Fla. was down on water too.
My family lives in Ft. Lauderdale and as I have been complaining about the drought, they haven't said a word. That could be a real catastrophe to the gardens since all are so used to regular wettings. Hope it changes soon for you. Today it is cloudy (!!) may not seem like much but it is a much needed break for the leaves and maybe the spot watering I have done will last a little longer.
I think south and central Florida is better off than us. It is weird, it can be raining to the east and west of us and we wont get a drop. According to the National Drought Index, we are considered to be in an extreme drought situation. Part of Alabama is considered to be in an exceptional drought, which is the worst it can get.
I have a 70 foot stream with 5 waterfalls - the largest one is about 3 feet high. Whenever I start losing 2 inches of water per day, a leak is always involved (usually from leaves or pine needles damming up the stream and causing a small but steady trickle outside the streambed). With no leaks, I only lose about an inch every 3 days. That being said, my pond is larger than your pondless bog so 2 inches off my 3000 gallon pond is a lot more water than 2 inches off your bog. So 2 inches of evaporation just might be about right...frustrating, isn't it?? But so worth it!!!!
Once we get out of this drought it might go back to what the experts figured but now with the heat and no moisture in sight evaporation occurs more often.
Jeri