Wednesday, December 17, 2014

The Water Beneath My Pond

The Posh Estate #2 was a posh estate in it's own right from probably the early 60's to the mid 90's. Then things fell into disrepair. The forest made a valiant attempt to reclaim what it once controlled.

The process of restoring its former grandeur is much like an archeological dig. You never know what you are going to find once you start clearing things away.

When the draining of the pond for the deconstruction and rebuild began I discovered the liner was bubbled up from a significant amount of water beneath it. Whatever the cause of that might be, it is safe to say, that is not a good thing.





















Word had trickled in from the long ago care takers that this small pond had once been much larger and filled the entire space. It had been filled in and a flagstone patio was built on top. You can see the former pond's edge and shape in the difference of the stone work.

Is the much bigger old pond beneath still holding water? Was it spring fed? There are signs of a small spring. I will have to figure out what is up with that trickle of water outside the pond and deal with it somehow. I have seen that trickle emerging in three different places. I know it isn't leaving the patio area. Is that what is putting all the water beneath my pond?





















Once the liner was pulled up, I pumped water out for half the day. It kept coming back in with a steady flow. I managed to lower the water level. I have not managed to drain it completely.

Where is that water coming from?

And what is that 4inch corrugated plastic pipe for? In the dismantle it looked like it had been set up as an overflow drain. Just to test it I put the drain hose in there for a good while with the pump going. It never filled up and I couldn't find any place where it was discharging. Hmm? Where does that pipe go? Do I care as long as it is away? I need an overflow and there are no good options.

This little project is going to take some thinking.





















I'll think about it later. That was enough excavating and discovery in the muddy wet cold for one day.


5 comments:

Sallysmom said...

Wish I was standing in that spot in the last pic looking at that scene. Does it get old to you?

Christopher C. NC said...

Twenty feet away from that spot is a long covered porch with a whole bunch of rocking chairs. It never gets old because the view is always changing.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Nothing like a natural puzzle to deal with. Interesting. Beautiful scenery too.

Unknown said...

On pics 1 and 3 there is an obvious @ 8 inch corrugated drain pipe....per-
haps from the house's gutters? The rocks and boulders are huge! Sure hope you have assistance and leverage.

Christopher C. NC said...

Lisa I hope I can corral that trickle into the rebuilt pond. It leaves a bad wet spot now. If not than it will have to be a bog garden. Problem is I have seen plenty of these springs turn on and off and move around.

Dana that is the mystery pipe. Where does it go? I should check the garage cutters and see if they might some how be connected. Those are little rocks. There was only one I had to move slowly. The Lady of the House wants bigger ones in the water falls.