Another pond question

ucfireman

Senior Member
Most of my dirt is sandy and drains pretty quickly. I have read about Bentonite clay being used to seal a pond or dam. Anyone have experience with this?
I want to build a small pond/ yard duck hole up by the house but don't really want to use a liner. This would probably only be about 30 foot or so diameter and a few feet deep.
 

Mexican Squealer

Senior Member
Bentonite would be a good choice for a smaller project like you are planning. Sandy soils are a challenge but it would definitely help seal/slow the leaching sandy soil affords.
 

paulito

Senior Member
Do some research and you will find that they do have a bentonite liner. Never used it but for a small project such as yours it may be worth a try. We use bentonite a good bit here at work for small leaks in ponds. works really well. Keep in mind that the product swells when it gets wet. So if you are using powder or granular/chipped bentonite you will want to work it into the soils of the bottom of the pond to try and get a uniform layer across the entire bottom. bentonite isn't necessarily cheap when you get to the scale of lining the bottom of a pond with it though. I think we get 50# bags of it for $10 or so each. Like mentioned above, i think i would over dig it and put in a layer of good old Ga Red Clay first and see where that got me. Be cheaper. If ya look around you may find a place developing that is wanting to get rid of dirt.
 
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