Rita Swan

oh funny- completely off topic, I saw in the email the topic "winter is coming" and the first thing I thought was "oh cool a Game of Thrones thread on Permies.......

The pond is maybe a quarter acre and is about 12 feet in the deep end. There is nothing immediately downstream that would be damaged.

Thank you for the replies. Some people call me a procrastinator but I prefer to think of myself as thoughtful. So, I've been thinking about this and getting a consult is a very good suggestion but I'm on a tight budget. I'm keeping my eye out for a person with those skills who would consult at a rate I can afford.

The bentonite sounds promising. I will do some research on cost and methods.

I've shied away from the dye because I don't want to put something in the water that will show up down stream. My pond is fed by a stream and there is no way to keep the dye out of the stream if I put it in the pond.

In the mean time I've had a couple ideas about trying to determine the origins of the wet spot.

I can drain the pond. I can do that easily because of the WONDERFUL design. All I have to do is cap the air flow pipe on it and it will start pumping water out like a fire hose. Because I am a "thoughtful" person I haven't stocked the pond so I can still drain and fill it without my emotional or financial woe. The goal would be to see if once drained, the wet spot went away.

Is it possible that the wet spot is a seep and that the weight of the water in the pond is forcing the seep to surface at the wet spot? I think that's what Joe was alluding to. So, if I drain the pond and relieve the pressure on the seep is it possible that the seep will revert to it's original path and the spot will dry up? It that's the case I'm back to square one because the wet spot will come back when I fill the pond again. On the other hand if the wet spot stays I know it's a seep!

If the wet spot is a seep and not a leak, does anyone have any ideas about how to address that? The man who worked on my dam said he thought the easiest approach is to dig a drainage ditch/swale and put gravel in it. The flow would be directed back to the stream. The problem with that is that is doesn't address the wet spot affecting the integrity of the dam.

Maybe the answer is to apply the bendonite to the inside of the pond on the other side of the wet spot, and to do a swale?

I have a pond on my property that's fed by a small creek. The creek is usually two to three feet wide and an inch or two deep. It runs all year. There was recently work done on the dam. The pond was drained while the dam work was done. When it was refilled I noticed there was a wet spot on the back side of the dam. It's not near the center of the dam where there is a drain pipe to a creek, it's more off to the side. When I pointed out the wet spot to the man who did the work for me, he said they noticed some water coming out of the ground when they dug down a couple feet so they could pack the main dam area with additional red clay. I think they may have created a seep. I have seeps on my property, but I had not noticed one within a hundred yards of the pond before the construction. He said when they laid down and packed the new additional clay, the water coming out of the ground disappeared. I'm trying to give you back story but maybe it's TMI.

Anyway, I'm in SC and we have had enormous amounts of rain (biblical proportions). The pond has held beautifully, never even close to flooding. The design of the drain pipe is another whole story but it's AMAZING!!!

Here is my question. The wet spot hasn't gone away. A small trickle of water is definitely forming and runs continually off to the side of the dam. The level of the pond stays stable except when it rains and the level goes up until the drain design kicks in and starts pumping water out. From just looking at the normal drain rate, the water in equals the water out. So,

1) should I be concerned about the wet spot and the trickle of water if it is a leak? I've thought about putting dye in the pond to see if the water in the trickle shows signs of the dye. (Then I think dye is probably not good for my pond)

2) if the water is seep water, should I be concerned about that wet spot compromising the integrity of the dam, or causing a leak eventually ?

Sigh. TIA for any suggestions

Just found a post on family cow boards that shows pictures of how cows horns change as they age. The peeling is part of the normal growth process. I love the internet.

Today I saw a young jersey cow who's horns looked like she had rubbed a hole in them. The horn was peeling and several layers were gone. It looked like the inside was hollow. What is that about? I've read their horns are hollow but how can they be peeling away like that? She was rubbing them on a tree but I've never heard of them breaking or splitting, or peeling like that. Is this indicative of something missing in her diet? TIA

Hello Henry. I live in upstate South Carolina, about 2 miles from the NC state line (50 miles south of Asheville). I have a little under 50 acres. I moved here 10 months ago and have been working on restoring old pastures and developing a system of water catchment and storage. My interests lie mostly with animals so I was wondering if your interests and mine are complementary? I don't/won't use chemicals/pesticides/herbicides. I would love to grow fruit and veggies but have focused on animals because that's what I know. I'm not hard set on exactly what I'm going to do in terms of production, but I am set on creating an income stream VS going broke. If this at all piques your interest, contact me. I wish you the best in your search, and hope you find a good "fit" for your dream. ~Rita

Thanks for all the responses. This is all good info. After hours (I can't believe how I can spend hours researching a fitting) of research I've ordered enough material to run about 300 feet of the pipe and install one tap. This is my prototype. If it works well I'll do the remaining 800 ft of this first run. It's exciting. In my research I've learned all kinds of things, like running a tracer wire with the pipe so in the future I'll be able to find the lines, leaving service loops to allow for expansion and contraction over long runs, how to do pressure checks at each tap. I still have more questions. One of the foremost is about water pressure. I'm laying 3/4 in pipe off a 2 inch water main. All my tee's are straight through- 3/4 all around. In this first run with the first tap I'm staying with 3/4 all the way to the hose connector. I'm wondering if I should step down to 1/2 at the tee's or the facets to create more water pressure? Does it matter? I'm going to be filling 70-100 gallon water tanks. I would like to be able to do that as quickly as possible. There is an existing run off this main that I think is 2inches all the way to the hydrant. When I lift that hydrant I better be holding onto the hose or it flies out of my hands. I think the pressure on that line must be way above 70ppi. I LOVE the time it takes to fill troughs off that line but it's really too much. I'm going to buy a pressure gauge for testing my new lines. I will screw it onto that hydrant and see what it reads. That will be interesting. Thanks again and I'll report back on my progress.

Nevemind- Found it.

Thanks Bryant. Now I'm getting the picture. I think this would work. I have a stockpile of cedar posts that were cut here years ago. I could use those to mark where the water taps are. Does that box have a commercial name? BTW- Just found the attachment tab :0)