Ponds leak for all sorts of varying reasons: low liner, liner tears/chew holes, plumbing breakage or even a dammed up waterfall from plant over-growth. For the average DIY pond owner, the above issues are pretty easy to detect and to fix. Having checked for liner and waterfall issues, DIY pond owner's regularly call about their mystery leak.So what about when you've tried everything that's been the problem before and you can't figure out what's happening this time?

What are screws and gromets in a pond? Screws and gromets are the hardware pieces that hold the face plate of the skimmer box to the actual skimmer box, securing the liner between the two. If you don't know what a skimmer box is or need a refresher, click here to read our blog on skimmer boxes!

Brass screws and gromets are typically sold with and used during the original installation of a pond's skimmer box and tend to rust/disintegrate within the first 10 years after installation. Because you never have to use, look at, clean or even pay attention to screws and gromets, it's easy to forget that they exist as a part of your backyard pond altogether. 

Before you start removing and repairing the screws and gromets on your skimmer box's face plate, it's always a good idea to make sure that the screws and gromets are indeed the problem causing the leak. We trial and error this by turning the pump off, filling up the pond to it's normal level and letting the pond sit over night. The pond will continue to lose water and drop until it find's the whole causing the leak. If the screws and gromets are the problem, the water level will drop until it reaches the lowest screw that's rusted/disintegrated. With the water removed, it should be visibly obvious if a screws are rusted/disintegrated.

Another way to check is by digging along the front-side of the skimmer box until you can wiggle your hand behind the liner by the face-plate. If there is water or even moisture back behind that liner, that's a great indication that water is being lost through the deterioration of the screws.  

To solve a leak of this nature, first you're in need of removing the screws and gromets from the face-plate. Keep in mind that it is important to replace ALL the screws and gromets, whether or not they're all compromised. Removing the screws often requires drilling the old screws out.

To replace with new screws and gromets requires very special precision, as you need to line up the new screws where the old screws have made holes in the liner. Similarly, if any screw is every a little crooked, you can expect to continue losing water. Thus it is important to take your time doing this type of repair. 

Stainless Steel Screws and Gromets are the best replacements for the original brass screws and gromets that we've found. You can purchase these pieces at any Fastenal store. Tip: don't forget to use the silicone when replacing the screws and gromets!!

Dreamscapes also carries a full line of pond supplies from water treatments and fish medications to pond pumps, heaters, fountains, plants and fish! Tadpoles and snails are also available at our Aquatic Retail Center in Lebanon, Pennsylvania seasonally while supplies last from May-August.  If you think you need it, we have it!

Retail Hours:  April 5th-October 27th 2018:
                           Monday-Wednesday: By Appt
                           Thursday-Friday: 10am-5pm
                           Saturday: 9am-12pm
                     October 28th-April 2019: HOURS BY APPT


Contact Us 
2155 State Route 343, Lebanon Pa | 717-272-6555 | [email protected]

Dreamscapes Watergardens services the city of Lebanon, Lancaster, Harrisburg, Mechanicsburg, Camp Hill, Cleona, Cornwall, Fredericksburg, Indiantown Gap, Jonestown, Kleinfeltersville, Mount Gretna, Myerstown, Newmanstown Palmyra, Quentin, Reistville, Richland, Schaefferstown of Pennsylvania, PA

Backyard pond/waterfall renovation makes up about 60 percent of our yearly projects. Whether it's the want to bring "new life" to an aged waterfeature, the want to make a waterfeature larger to house more fishy friends or the want to fix what seems to be a non-repairable leak, waterfeature renovations are always exciting.

This backyard pond owner in Leola, Pennsylvania knew a facelift would bring new life to their yard, as well as, fix a problematic mystery leak. Having constantly fought a leaking issue, the enjoyment of fish has been put off so as to not compromise their safety and health. WHAT?! No! Fish are the best part!

Because we weren't making this waterfeature larger, we stayed within the same footprint of the existing pond which is 11'x20'x2' feet deep and included a 8' stream. We were also able to re-utilize their Aquascape Filtration System, which promotes crystal clear water through mechanical and biological filtration components.

What is an Aquascape Filtration System comprised of? Follow this link to read more information on all the different pond filtration options available through  Aquascape, Inc!!! Dreamscapes installs and swears by this brand of pond products for the ease, efficiency and longevity.

It's been over a month since this project has been completed and the water level has stayed the same--great news! So what about those mystery leaks? Having pulled out all the rocks in the existing feature to do this watergarden renovation, we not only found chew holes in the waterfall from a critter, but we found quite a few holes in the pond portion hidden behind large rocks that needed equipment in order to move. What a mess!

Fortunately, the water level is holding and the homeowner is hap, hap, HAPPY to have a working pond again and WE'RE happy to have finally solved the mystery leak for them!

Located in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, Dreamscapes Watergardens installs and renovates koi fish ponds and pondless waterfalls (disappearing waterfalls) all over the Central Pennsylvania area. For more information on koi ponds and waterfeature installations, please contact us directly!

Dreamscapes also carries a full line of pond supplies from water treatments and fish medications to pond pumps, heaters, fountains, plants and fish! Tadpoles and snails are also available at our Aquatic Retail Center in Lebanon, Pennsylvania seasonally while supplies last from May-August.  If you think you need it, we have it!

Retail Hours:  April 5th-October 27th 2018:
                           Monday-Wednesday: By Appt
                           Thursday-Friday: 10am-5pm
                           Saturday: 9am-12pm
                     October 28th-April 2019: HOURS BY APPT


Contact Us
2155 State Route 343, Lebanon Pa | 717-272-6555 | [email protected]
Dreamscapes Watergardens services the city of Lebanon, Lancaster, Harrisburg, Mechanicsburg, Camp Hill, Cleona, Cornwall, Fredericksburg, Indiantown Gap, Jonestown, Kleinfeltersville, Mount Gretna, Myerstown, Newmanstown Palmyra, Quentin, Reistville, Richland, Schaefferstown of Pennsylvania, PA

HAPPY MONDAY!!! Maybe your pond already looks like the photo above or you're getting ready to shut it down, however, today we’re going to talk about leak detection in your Central Pennsylvania water feature--- which is important to trouble shoot NOW before the temperatures get too cold, causing hoses to freeze.

Slight fluctuations in your watergarden pond are normal – evaporation and splashing can cause your waterfall or pond to lose up to one (1) inch a day. Large drops in water level, however, is a pretty good indicator that something else is going on. There are 3 areas that the leak issue can be found in:
                              Pond, Piping, or Waterfall.
Luckily, leak detection is simply a series of trouble shooting steps that we’re going to walk you through! The Dreamscapes Team uses these steps faithfully during every leak call we get.

A plumbing leak could be obvious before troubleshooting the pond/waterfall. If you have saturated mulch around the filtration boxes or around the perimeter of the pond, check there first! If obviously saturated mulch is not present, follow the steps below:
Step One: Fill your pond up to a normal level.
Step Two: Turn off your pump
Step Three: Wait 12 – 24 hours and check the water level.
Step Four: Depends on if the water level continued to drop or stayed the same.

If the water drops past an initial inch, the leak is in your pond. At this point, you want to let the pond continue to lose water until it stops because it will eventually find the hole and stop dropping. This is important to troubleshoot in the fall because of not knowing where hole is. In the unlucky case that the hole was in the very bottom of the pond, imagine adding water to the pond when the hoses freeze.

If the water level falls right at the line where the screws and gromets are on the skimmer  box, double check to see if the screws have rusted and disintegrated. If the screws are intact, move a few rocks around the front checking for obvious tears or chew holes and slide your hand behind the liner checking for wet soil indicating that the faceplate silicone has dried out. Remove the faceplate, clean the old silicone off the liner, and refer to your skimmer instruction manual for the proper way to seal the faceplate to the skimmer.

No issues with the above items? You can concentrate your search around the perimeter of the water level by removing any rocks, checking the pond liner for a puncture or hole. If the water level continues to drop to 6"-8" from the bottom, please be advised that it would be wise to remove the fish into holding tanks at this point in order to not compromise their safety. A holding tank should have aeration and a net over top to not only prevent predator attacks but to also prevent curious fish from jumping out. Once found, you can patch the leak with a liner patch kit. You can replace your rocks once the patch has finished sealing.

If the water level stayed the same in Step Three, your problem might lie in the waterfall.

Waterfall leaks can be caused by:
-low liner,
-splashing,
-obstruction or
-chew holes/liner tears.




Low liner -- found around a waterfall's edge. As dirt around the stream or waterfall settles, it can create low liner spots that may cause water to escape over the liner’s edge. This can be easily found by looking for wet mulch or muddy areas around the edges of your stream or waterfall. If you find the low spot, lift up the liner and backfill the liner area with soil to raise the edge and contain the water.
“Splash leak” – one that’s caused by water splashing out of the water feature, can be easily remedied by moving rocks in the area to redirect the water back into your feature.
Obstructions -- in your stream and waterfall caused by excessive plant or algae growth can restrict and divert water flow.
Chew Holes -- harder to find, chew holes can be anywhere inside the waterfall length/width and requires the moving of rocks. We set up test pipes in order to work in 2 foot increments starting at the bottom of the waterfall. Move the test pipe up another 2 feet after 24 hours has passed where the water level has not changed. When water level has dropped, begin lifting rocks in that 2 foot section. You can patch the hole with a liner patch kit and replace the rocks once the patch has finished sealing.

Finally, if none of these solutions work, it’s time to check the pipe, plumbing fittings, and pump connections.

The pipe runs along the outside of the pond and usually saturates the mulch if there is a significant leak like in the picture to the right. A cracked pipe could result in the loss of inches and inches of water in an hour.

The connections to the filtration system could also saturate the mulch. Check all three areas for saturated mulch before digging up/exposing connections and piping. If it is a SLOW LEAK...it may not have saturated the mulch. Dig'em up and  tighten/replace necessary components if found.

As mentioned above---you certainly want to have troubleshooted the leak to know the location before the outside temperatures get too cold, freezing the hoses. If you've narrowed the leak to the waterfall--no rush! That can be addressed in the Spring upon opening. A hole in the bottom of the pond, however, could be fatal for the fish come mid-winter.

Let the experts handle your leaky mess for you! Dreamscapes has a full service maintenance program that travels all over the Lebanon, Lancaster and Dauphin County areas. We also carry a full line of pond supplies from water treatments and fish medications to pond pumps, heaters, fountains, plants and fish! Tadpoles and snails are also available at our Aquatic Retail Center in Lebanon, Pennsylvania seasonally while supplies last from May-August.  If you think you need it, we have it!

Retail Hours:  April 5th-October 27th 2018:
                           Monday-Wednesday: By Appt
                           Thursday-Friday: 10am-5pm
                           Saturday: 9am-12pm
                     October 28th-April 2019: HOURS BY APPT


Contact Us
2155 State Route 343, Lebanon Pa | 717-272-6555 | [email protected]

Dreamscapes Watergardens services koi ponds and waterfalls in the city of Lebanon, Lancaster, Harrisburg, Mechanicsburg, Camp Hill, Cleona, Cornwall, Fredericksburg, Indiantown Gap, Jonestown, Kleinfeltersville, Mount Gretna, Myerstown, Newmanstown Palmyra, Quentin, Reistville, Richland, Schaefferstown of Pennsylvania, PA