Grr! I found a leak in my pond plumbing...

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Conner

Conner

Piranha
MFK Member
Dec 27, 2008
4,461
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Kentucky
I found a leak in my pond plumbing this morning, right wear it enters into the bog filter. It was a very slow leak, and I had to leave for work, so I didn't do anything about it other than tell my fiance to watch the pond, and if the pump started sucking air, add some new water from the hose.

Well, I get home, and get out their and start working on it, and then it starts pouring rain. So I've got he pump turned off and I'm waiting for the rain to stop so I can fix it. I'm so pissed off!

And in addition, I found a dead koi and goldfish when I got home :irked:. I have a feeling my fiance added too much water, and no conditioner, so I dumped about a half a bottle in there to hopefully prevent any other fish deaths.

The first day it rains a month, and of course its the day I NEED to be outside working on the f'ing pond...
 
I've got the plumbing fixed, I think. I had to cut out a section right at the bog filter, because one of the solvent welded 90* angles was leaking. I put in a new 90* and then welded the flexible pvc into another fitting.

I'm going to give it another 20-30 minutes before I start the pump back up, for about 1.8 hours total set time. Hopefully that will be long enough to let the solvent completely cure and keep the plumbing for blasting apart.

I just worry about the pond not having a running filter for two hours...
 
Well, I got the pond started back up after two hours, and went back and checked it an hour after I started the pump. Lo and behold, there's still water coming out at that joint :irked:.

Soooo, I did some looking around, since I just knew it couldn't still be leaking, and I finally realized the plumbing NEVER WAS LEAKING! The problem is that the hyacinth is choking the bog filter enough that the water level has risen by almost 2 inches from what it was. That was high enough that it was just trickling through the little notch in the side of the bog filter that I made to rest the plumbing in :wall:.

Well, I pulled a few of the hyacinth out of the pond as soon as I realized, and once I did, there was a "wooosh", and the water level in the sump dropped a good inch at least. I'm going to take the time this weekend to cull out about half of the hyacinth and move them down to the main pond.

That should also help with the small algae bloom I've been having. Its been so damn hot and sunny lately.

Its been a hell of a week... :(
 
Yeah. What would really suck, is if the new plumbing that I put in ends up leaking (knock on wood!). Then I really would be in a bad mood...
 
Yah, I have a run of flexible pvc from the pump to the entrance to the bog, and then it switches to rigid pvc before it goes into the bog. I also have a check valve right after the pump, before the flex pvc.
 
And the whole run is buried under dirt and mulch, except right where it goes into the bog. And that's shaded 95% of the day by the bog plants.
 
dang that's annoying, I've never actaully had the pvc plubling leak from my pond, but I did have water being diverted by plants out of the pond, one time it ran a pump completely dry while I was at work, luckily I didn't have a bottom drain in that one otherwise my fish would have been sunbathing.
 
yogurt_21;4372111; said:
dang that's annoying, I've never actaully had the pvc plubling leak from my pond, but I did have water being diverted by plants out of the pond, one time it ran a pump completely dry while I was at work, luckily I didn't have a bottom drain in that one otherwise my fish would have been sunbathing.
Click to expand...

Exactly the same situation I just had. Glad I don't have a bottom drain either, just a skimmer box. The pump can't drop the water level in the pond by more than about 10", so there will still be between 24" and 34" of water in the pond.
 
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