If the worst happens and your pond develops a leak, turn off your pump first. This stops any water pumping around the filtration system; after all it could be your pipe work leaking rather than your liner.

Steps to find a leak:

1. Once your pump is turned off, top your pond up so it is full of water (don’t forget to treat any tap water with a dechlorinating product).
2. Place a ping pong ball on the surface of the pond (bear with us…we haven’t gone mad!)
3. Now wait
4. If there is no drop in your pond water level, your leak is in the pipework, so get checking for anything obvious especially around waterfalls or any hose connections.
5. If your pond water level has started to go down, then the leak is most likely in the liner itself. This is where the ping pong ball is needed, because they are so light they will be drawn to where the leak is. This should help you find it and asses the damage.
6. Repair the leak; we have a whole range of solutions listed here.

We often confuse people when we recommend putting a ping pong ball on the surface of the pond but trust me, it works! I had a leak in my pond last year and the ping pong ball trick worked a treat, it just so happened that the leak was in the most awkward place - the bottom corner!

Here’s a picture of the damage to my liner, the seam had split and started to come away. Luckily damage like this is easily repaired – keep an eye out for a future blog post on how to fix damage like this. Unfortunately I didn’t take any photographs of me actually repairing the liner, but I managed to do it without too much hassle.

‘But when I’m repairing the liner, where do I put my fish?’

We get asked this a lot when people have a leak in their pond liner. The simplest way is to buy a cheap paddling pool, transfer pond water into it if you can as it saves using more tap water and therefore a de-chlorinator treatment.

Here’s a picture of my fish safely in a paddling pool whilst I carried out the necessary repairs on my liner.

Once the repair was completed I filled the pond again (remember, don’t forget the de-chlorinator, this is really important). Here’s a picture of my fish safe and sound back in their pond (albeit a bit cold!)

Our Sales Advisors are available 6 days a week to give expert advice over the phone, if you’re struggling with finding a leak or need any help or advice just give us a call!