Diggin' a Pond

poadeleted21

poadeleted21

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Anybody ever dug a pond? Wondering what's involved/experiences?

We just purchased a property that "had" a pond.

Owner said that It was full, then started fluctuating with the water table (this is in South Carolina lowcountry) and the soil is sandy.

It's sort of a mud pit right now, would like to fill it up with water but want it to stick around. it's approx 1 acre.
 
My grandpa "dug" one out with a couple hundred pounds of fertilizer.
 
bartmc said:
Anybody ever dug a pond? Wondering what's involved/experiences?

We just purchased a property that "had" a pond.

Owner said that It was full, then started fluctuating with the water table (this is in South Carolina lowcountry) and the soil is sandy.

It's sort of a mud pit right now, would like to fill it up with water but want it to stick around. it's approx 1 acre.
Click to expand...

If your soil is truly sandy, there is a clay you "line" sandy lakes with to help retain water.
 
I needed one for cows on the farm, so hired the local pond-digger to do it. Max depth at the time was 25' so it wouldn't dry up during the hot summers, but dunno how much silt it has collected over the years. Some big bass live there now.
 
kyleb said:
If your soil is truly sandy, there is a clay you "line" sandy lakes with to help retain water.
Click to expand...

You're probably talking about bentonite? I used to live beside a bentonite mine, but I don't think it's close by here in GA/SC.
 
We bought some property three years ago (in NC) and had our local dirt contractor build a pond. There is all kinds of info out there on the internet.

The water level will be dependent on the year-round inflow into the pond. We have only a spring feeding the pond day in and day out, needing rainfall to truly fill it. Our spring runs at a minimum 3 gallons per minute. Our pond is about 2/3 acre and a depth of 9 feet. We finished construction at the end of Oct 2011, and it was full by May 2012. Last summer was hot and dry and the water level dropped 2 feet. It is currently full and looks great. I am hoping that this summer is not as dry as last summer. If it goes down much, my wife will be wanting to dig a well to keep it full . . .

Wells
 
bartmc said:
You're probably talking about bentonite? I used to live beside a bentonite mine, but I don't think it's close by here in GA/SC.
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I live on a 1,600 acre recreational lake. 50 years or so ago during some low water years they decided the lake was "draining" into a five acre cove. They built a dam to seal off the I've and, sure enough, it drained dry. The scraped off the lake bottom, then hauled in bentonite from the Dakotas and lined the bottom. Seems to hold water now! Dam structure is still there but they dug a channel beside it a number of years ago to open it up for navigation.

Image of that bay is attached.
 

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Dug a teeny weenie little one at my house when I was a kid. Used a shovel. Lined it with concrete too, I was very enterprising.
 
steingar said:
Dug a teeny weenie little one at my house when I was a kid. Used a shovel. Lined it with concrete too, I was very enterprising.
Click to expand...

And that, friends, is the last thing steingar is going to say about the whole "Hoffa Incident"...
 
Ideally, after excavation you would line the pond with some compacted non-expansive clay soil (cheap if it's nearby) or a plastic pond liner (pricey.) Depending on the type of sandy soil, bentonite may or may not work.
 
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