Asked on May 26, 2012

My water feature is losing water. I think I may have a leak. Does anyone know someone who does repairs?

Barbara O
by Barbara O
Powder Springs/Marietta/Kennesaw/Acworth areas
  9 answers
  • Diana C Diana C on May 26, 2012
    depending on how big the leak is.. i have fixed mine before by going to the aquarium store and getting aquarium sealant, dry the area and apply the sealer and let it dry good before refilling.. of course it depends on how big your water ffeature is also.. mine was a small fountain and a small plastic pond so it was easy to fix.
  • Sure its not evaporation?. Depending upon how the water feature was constructed, pool repair company can do such a fix assuming you have a rubber liner. They can find the leak with special tools that listen for the water leaking out. Not to expensive as well.
  • Barbara O Barbara O on May 27, 2012
    Thanks for the suggestions. I was hoping for evaporation, but no such luck.
  • If you have a pump system, I would focus on this first. Can you isolate the pipes and put pressure on them to check for cracks below the surface of the ground? Does the leak appear to be less if the pump is off? That can be a sure sign that the plumbing is leaking as quite often the water leaks faster with the pump running.
  • GALE F GALE F on May 27, 2012
    hello Barbara, i have the black in ground fountain,( had cracks) , i repaired it myself with clear liquid plastic glue. it took 2 days to dry, but did the job. good luck. hope this helps.
  • Southern Trillium LLC Southern Trillium LLC on May 28, 2012
    Barbara, I will ask a few questions first, and this might steer you in the right direction. First, what type of water feature do you have? Is it a pond, a pond and waterfall, or fountain, and what type of liner/basin does it have? Next, is it losing water only when running, or if you were to turn off the pump, will the water loss stop? If it only loses water when running, it narrows down where to look for the leak. Based on these details, I can steer you in the right direction on finding the leak, and possibly fixing it yourself. Each type of liner/basin has its own type of repair, and most are not difficult or expensive to repair if they are minor and you can locate it. Sometimes, the leak on a pond and stream is where someone stepped on a rock near the edge, and it is diverting water out of liner while running. These repairs are just finding the culprit rock/debris and placing it back in place, and raising the liner so that the water is contained in the liner. Also, you don't have to have an outside company come in with expensive equipment to find a leak, I can steer you in the right direction, and it will take some time and a little trial and error, but you should be able to find it. I will wait to hear back from you with some more details in order to steer you in the right direction.
    • Becky Schmutz Becky Schmutz on Jun 26, 2019

      We have a pondless water feature that loses water in about 2 days with the pump running. The pump itself is not leaking because if we turn it off the water stays at the bottom with no leakage.


      What are some good tips in finding the leak? It seems so overwhelming to remove all of the rocks and start from scratch?

  • UpState UpState on Mar 16, 2016
    Check pump couplings...fence out passing horses...check for 'swampy' portions of yard...a plumber would be an excellent first call to make !
  • Brian Cooper Brian Cooper on Jun 10, 2020

    I have just installed a new, small self contained cascading water feature, and despite making several adjustments to the pump, and position, when operating with just enough pressure to get a reasonable flow. It is losing 2-3 litres over a few hours and falls below the pump level if left over night. Having read comments about splashing this seems excessive?

  • J Morgan J Morgan on Jul 11, 2020

    I have the same problem .When the pump is on I have only about 45 minutes of use until the pump is exposed .there is no water loss from the pipes nor the reservoir as water level stays full when pump not working.can anybody advise please