How to block holes UNDER water?
 

There is a tiny stream running through my lawn and the previous owner of my house decided to turn it into a succession of six waterfalls and six ponds. When I moved in water was gurgling over each fall, from pool to pool, down the slope of the lawn. Two years later, however, only ONE waterfall is working. All of the other five walls (mini-dams) which he built out of small rocks and cement have developed leaks. Only one of the ponds is currently full - and that's the one that is sending excess water over the lip to fall into the next pond. But the rest of the ponds are only almost full - their water is moving from pond to pond through small holes in the walls. Each wall only has one or two holes.

To dry up the stream in preparation for concreting repairs, by emptying all the ponds, would be a back-breaking task, and anyway, diverting new incoming water would be difficult.

So, is there some thick substance which I can ram into each hole and which will then set solid, despite the pool of water on one side of hole and the wet conditions on the other?

I have concrete, of course. And I believe one can get hold of "plasticiser" to mix with it. But I am not sure if that's the solution and if it is I'm not sure what proportions to mix it in.

Any ideas most gratefully received!

To dry up the stream in preparation for concreting repairs, by emptying
all the ponds, would be a back-breaking task, and anyway, diverting new
incoming water would be difficult.

Why would you need to dry up the stream in order to repair concrete?

"iolo" wrote in message
...


Any ideas most gratefully received!


--
iolo

Buy a beaver?
(hey, you said any ideas)
--
********
Bill Pounds
http://www.billpounds.com

iolo wrote:

There is a tiny stream running through my lawn and the previous owner of
my house decided to turn it into a succession of six waterfalls and six
ponds. When I moved in water was gurgling over each fall, from pool to
pool, down the slope of the lawn. Two years later, however, only ONE
waterfall is working. All of the other five walls (mini-dams) which he
built out of small rocks and cement have developed leaks. Only one of
the ponds is currently full - and that's the one that is sending excess
water over the lip to fall into the next pond. But the rest of the
ponds are only almost full - their water is moving from pond to pond
through small holes in the walls. Each wall only has one or two
holes.

To dry up the stream in preparation for concreting repairs, by emptying
all the ponds, would be a back-breaking task, and anyway, diverting new
incoming water would be difficult.

So, is there some thick substance which I can ram into each hole and
which will then set solid, despite the pool of water on one side of
hole and the wet conditions on the other?

I have concrete, of course. And I believe one can get hold of
"plasticiser" to mix with it. But I am not sure if that's the solution
and if it is I'm not sure what proportions to mix it in.

Any ideas most gratefully received!


rubber roofing is about 1/8 in thick and cut to the size of the pool
bottom will water proof the bottom and allow the water to run over the
dam. rocks can then be put on this surface to hold it down and make
look natural.

iolo wrote:

I have concrete, of course. And I believe one can get hold of
"plasticiser" to mix with it. But I am not sure if that's the solution
and if it is I'm not sure what proportions to mix it in.

There is a type of cement, called "hydraulic cement" which expands
slightly when it cures, and is what plumbers have used to plug up drains
and voids in underwater concrete.

I'm not sure why nobody else mentioned this -- but concrete will set just
fine underwater. You just have to pour it correctly (google for info).

-Tim

I don't know how big the holes are that are leaking but bentonite is used in porus areas to help contain water. When it gets wet it swells, closing off some of the portals. You might try that. No guarentee......
Mike

iolo wrote:


Any ideas most gratefully received!



You try posting in rec.ponds. They're quite nice, but under a heavy
troll attack, so you're Usenet filters might need tweaking. If you can
filter out everything that is posted to multiple groups, it shouldn't
bother you at all.

A

iolo Wrote:
There is a tiny stream running through my lawn and the previous owner of
my house decided to turn it into a succession of six waterfalls and six
ponds. When I moved in water was gurgling over each fall, from pool to
pool, down the slope of the lawn. Two years later, however, only ONE
waterfall is working. All of the other five walls (mini-dams) which he
built out of small rocks and cement have developed leaks. Only one of
the ponds is currently full - and that's the one that is sending excess
water over the lip to fall into the next pond. But the rest of the
ponds are only almost full - their water is moving from pond to pond
through small holes in the walls. Each wall only has one or two
holes.

To dry up the stream in preparation for concreting repairs, by emptying
all the ponds, would be a back-breaking task, and anyway, diverting new
incoming water would be difficult.

So, is there some thick substance which I can ram into each hole and
which will then set solid, despite the pool of water on one side of
hole and the wet conditions on the other?

When I had a similiar problem in a pond, I just dumped crusher run into
it to stop the leak. If a big hole, a couple of rocks first. Has
worked well for me. I have no confidence in concrete, water undermines
it too fast. If you have crayfish causing the problem, mix a bit of
rock salt into the crusher run, salt kills crayfish.

--
Free men own guns, slaves don't
www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/5357/

get some cheap, brown garbage bags, the real thin kind, and put them near
the holes. They should suck in with the water, and after a few you can plug
the holes with clay. It's temporary, but will last at least a few years.
If the bags come right out the other side, you need a better repair. I
fixed a leaky dam on a one acre pond this way, and it was good for several
years. Now it's too far gone and the dam needs replacement.

keith

"Nick Hull" wrote in message
...
iolo Wrote:
There is a tiny stream running through my lawn and the previous owner
of
my house decided to turn it into a succession of six waterfalls and six
ponds. When I moved in water was gurgling over each fall, from pool to
pool, down the slope of the lawn. Two years later, however, only ONE
waterfall is working. All of the other five walls (mini-dams) which he
built out of small rocks and cement have developed leaks. Only one of
the ponds is currently full - and that's the one that is sending excess
water over the lip to fall into the next pond. But the rest of the
ponds are only almost full - their water is moving from pond to pond
through small holes in the walls. Each wall only has one or two
holes.

To dry up the stream in preparation for concreting repairs, by emptying
all the ponds, would be a back-breaking task, and anyway, diverting new
incoming water would be difficult.

So, is there some thick substance which I can ram into each hole and
which will then set solid, despite the pool of water on one side of
hole and the wet conditions on the other?

When I had a similiar problem in a pond, I just dumped crusher run into
it to stop the leak. If a big hole, a couple of rocks first. Has
worked well for me. I have no confidence in concrete, water undermines
it too fast. If you have crayfish causing the problem, mix a bit of
rock salt into the crusher run, salt kills crayfish.

--
Free men own guns, slaves don't
www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/5357/

Get some cheap, brown garbage bags, the real thin kind like they line
wastebaskets with, and put them near the holes. They should suck in with
the water, and after a few you can plug the holes with clay. It's
temporary, but will last at least a few years. If the bags come right out
the other side, you need a better repair. I fixed a leaky dam on a one acre
pond this way, and it was good for several years. Now it's too far gone and
the dam needs replacement.

If you need the more permanent repair, it's easy enough to divert the stream
using a pump.

keith