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Jerry
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# Posted: 20 May 2009 05:26pm
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I'm thinking about building a swimming pond at my cabin, and wondered if anyone had experience doing that. The cabin is on a small lake, but by July the lake is so weed choked that swimming is nearly impossible. Also, it's against the law to pull or otherwise destroy the wild rice that circles the lake, not that I'd want to do that anyway. The acerage we own is mostly sand and I've got a skid steer loader, so I'm thinking about clearing and excavating a spot big enough to make a swimming pond for the kids/grandkids. I'm sure there are rules, permits, etc to consider, but I'm just curious if anyone out there has done this, what the problems are, and is it worth it. My other option would be to buy an above ground pool, but the thought of a more natural pond interests me a lot more. Any thoughts on this?
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Vince P
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# Posted: 21 May 2009 09:09am
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I've done this by excavating and damming a seasonal creek on my property. I haven't worked out the leaks yet and the water still disappears after the spring.
Your best bet would be to excavate an area where you have running water. If your planning on simply digging a hole and connecting it to the lake, you might want to research whether you will end up having a stagnant pool of water
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lawco18
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# Posted: 31 May 2009 10:10am
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Jerry,
I like your idea of digging a swimming hole with a skid steer loader. I have a mid-sized loader that I used to dig a 1/3 acre pond at my wilderness property. The topography of the pond site was not ideal and I ended up putting 110 hours on the machine. The result of my efforts is a pond that remains 4 feet below the designed waterline. So, drawing on my experience with this, I will share a couple of tips:
1) If you plan on relocating more then maybe 300 cubic yards (I relocated more than 1000), I would hire a larger machine and someone to operate it. Since you are building a swimming hole, this should not be a problem.
2) You mentioned that your soil is sand. Sand is prone to seepage. I will correct the leak in my pond by adding a powdery substance called Sodium Bentonite. You can research this product yourself, but I will just say that it is a natural product mined out of Montana. You mix it into the soil. When it gets wet, it swells 15 times its original size and turns to clay. In my area, it is available from a local feed store for about $11 for a 50lb bag. It is a lot easier to get a good seal with this stuff if you apply it before the pond is partially full. If you have sandy soil, I would plan on mixing this into the pond basin during the construction phase.
I hope this helps and good luck.
Clearing the pond basin
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Leaking pond
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Jerry
Member
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# Posted: 2 Jun 2009 09:26am
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Thanks for the replies - Vince and Lawco. Lawco, my project will look about like yours, with half of it is already excavated. About ten years ago I had material removed to use as fill on another part of my property, so that's what got me thinking about what I was going to do with that area, and that's where the idea of a swimming hole emerged from. Do you have a stream into yours or does the water seep in from the ground? I have neither right now so I'm assuming I have to go deeper to reach the water table. Thanks again.
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lawco18
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# Posted: 3 Jun 2009 06:05pm
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Jerry,
My pond was designed to impound water from an uphill watershed. You can't tell from the pictures, but on the left side of the "Leaking pond" picture there is a steep 1 acre of ground that, with the help of a couple of diversion ditches, sheds water into the pond. In my part of the country, a 4:1 ratio of watershed area to pond surface area is enough to keep a pond full (if it does not leak). About 80 hours into the project, a local stopped by in a beat-up truck and told me, in his high-pitched Appalachian voice: "It won't hold no water". He was right. I will fix it with Sodium Bentonite, but it is going to cost me.
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Vince P
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# Posted: 4 Jun 2009 10:47am
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Quoting: lawco18 I will fix it with Sodium Bentonite, but it is going to cost me.
I looked into sodium bentonite for my leaking pond after you first posted it and one of the websites sells it also mentions poyethylene pond liners. This might be something to consider also, although still expensive. http://sodiumbentonite.net/
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Vince P
Member
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# Posted: 11 Jun 2009 03:19pm
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Interesting article on this very topic:
http://ezinearticles.com/?Pond-and-Lake-Leak-Location-and-Repair&id=1504471
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Jerry
Member
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# Posted: 13 Jun 2009 07:27am
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Thanks Vince. Very helpful information. I just visited a friend who built a new pond and is having leak problems. Now I've got some ideas to share with him.
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