Pond lining options
Pond lining options
(OP)
I have a storm pond that needs to be excavated well into the water table (GW @ 3' BGS, pond floor at 12' BGS). I don't want to introduce all this groundwater into the receiving water, so I'm investigating pond lining options. So far I've seen bentonite (used in a geotextile 'sandwich' as well as tilled into the underlying soil) and plastic liners (HDPE and PVC).
What do you have for preferences for pond lining and why? Thanks in advance.
What do you have for preferences for pond lining and why? Thanks in advance.
--
Shane Mullen, Staff Engineer
Llewellyn-Howley Incorporated
http://www.lhinc.net





RE: Pond lining options
1. How important is it to keep the water in the pond without percolation to the subgrade (and water table) - are there compliance issues?
2. Will the pond need to be cleaned of accumulated sediment? (liner damage during cleaning)
3. How will the high water table affect the liner (installation difficulty, "floating", etc.)? Most likely this will require some form of dewatering.
4. Will there be any requirement for leak detection?
From your description, it sounds like the hard part is going to be keeping the groundwater out of the pond and preventing your liner system from floating. These are not insurmountable problems, but the scope of work for this "pond" will probably surprise those that have to write the check to pay for it. You may also want to verify that the depth into the groundwater is OK with the government environmental folks (EPA or the like in the US + state agencies).
Good luck!
RE: Pond lining options
RE: Pond lining options
I prefer clay/bentonite liners because of their self-healing capability, but they are more expensive I believe than say PVC.
RE: Pond lining options
Looks like I should minimize the amount of groundwater that has exposure to the pond to reduce uplift as much as possible. I thought of putting a curtain drain along the perimiter of the pond to do this until I became concerned with introducing the groundwater to the discharge point (since the pipe would have to daylight somewhere).
I'm not too familiar with slurry walls. Would they be a lot more expensive as opposed to a curtain drain?
--
Shane Mullen, Staff Engineer
Llewellyn-Howley Incorporated
http://www.lhinc.net
RE: Pond lining options
Richard A. Cornelius, P.E.
WWW.amlinereast.com
RE: Pond lining options
RE: Pond lining options