How can I prevent groundwater seepage into my outdoor pond.

Question

Folks looking for your experience and expertise. I set up an outdoor pond ( preformed ) a few weeks back. With the increase of rains we have been having in the Toronto area, groundwater has seeped into the dugout and lifted the pond out of it's place. Now the pond is floating.

Is there some way I could prevent groundwater seepage ? Should I go back to the drawing board and replace the preformed pond with pond liner ?

Please let me know.

Thanks.

Cheers.

Answer 1

I had a problem with water running off towards my pond.I dug a trench around my pond,maybe 2 inches deep and leading away from the pond.I covered it (the trench) with decorative stone to blend in with the landscape of the pond.Now the waters flows along side the pond and out to an area away from the pond.You can't tell the trench is  draining water away  since the rocks hide it nicely.The trench is about 6 inches from the lip of the pond, which is covered with larger rocks.

Answer 2

You might try what the farmers around here do with fields which have too much water.  They lay a plastic perforated piping in the low lying areas for the water to drain into and it's directed into a more suitable area.  They call it "tiling" a field.  

You may need to drain and lift the pond to dig the tiling pipe underneath.  The pipe needs to extend some distance on either side of the pond to collect the excess water and move it where you want the water to go.    

Answer 3

Has the pond been filled with water, plants, fish and maybe a couple decorative rocks? It shouldn't float, then. I think that it would be too heavy. No?

EDIT:  I just looked in my book titled Creating Water Gardens (by Ortho) and they recommend filling in any and all dead space around the perimeter of the preformed pond with sand and overlaying heavy rocks around the perimeter for a natural-looking appearance. All that should hold the pond in place, I would think. Too, is the pond in such an area that it is on a slope, by any chance?  Is the rim of the preformed pond set slightly above ground level? That would help. Did you add a layer of sand or pea gravel to the hole to help level the bottom of the hole first? This last point may be especially helpful if the ground is clay.  Here in the Detroit area, we have a lot of clay and it acts like a soup bowl in that it holds water.  If that's the case, you may have to put a perforated, hard plastic drainage pipe under the area to drain off the excess water.  This pipe is wrapped in a sheet of cloth ground-cover (optional) and set in a deep ditch lined with pea gravel.  Then the pipe is covered over with more pea gravel and then dirt or sand to level the base.