Pond liner

If you build a liner pond you can dedicate all your creativity to its design. There are different kinds and sizes of pond liner, however, the mostly used and most suitable pond liners are EPDM liner, 3D liner and PVC liner.

EPDM pond liner

EPDM liner is made from rubber and it is extremely strong and durably elastic. This material contains no softeners and it is well resistant to UV radiation and acid rain. EPDM is professionally applied in roofing material and water basins. Nowadays it is also applied in ponds. In that case, however, a different variant of this material is used, which does not contain substances that are poisonous for fish and pond plants. So take particular care that you use special EPDM pond liner for your pond, so that your pond fish and pond plants will remain healthy.

3D Pond liner

The past few years 3D liner is becoming more and more popular. 3D liner is a bag from EPDM ,which is custom-made for the form and size of the pond you want. This means that you need not remove any pleats or make the pond liner to size and glue it yourself. The only thing you need for this are the measurements of the pond. The supplier of 3D pond liner will make the bag to size for you.

PVC Pond liner

A different kind of pond liner that is much used is PVC liner. This material is smooth, so that it will easily adjust itself to the form of your pond. PVC liner is duly weldable (using heat), however, it can also be glued. For any repairs you can use special pond liner glue. This liner will last for years on end, however, it should be protect as much as possible against UV radiation. So preferably do not place it in fierce sunlight.

Calculating pond liner

To calculate the necessary measurements of the pond liner you can apply the rules of thumb mentioned below.

Length = pond length + 2 x pond depth + 2 x 28 inches
Width = pond width + 2 x pond depth + 2 x 28 inches

In this formula the overlap of the pond side of 10 inches on both sides has been considered already. Apply the same measurements for the quantity of protective anti-root cloth if used.

Applying pond liner

Put the liner in the deepest part of the pond, unroll it and work up along the walls. Try and apply the liner as smoothly and pleat less as possible to the bottom and along the walls, following plateaus made, if any, as smoothly as possible and to best of your ability. However, do not apply the pond liner too tight, because later on it will be pushed outwards by the water. Take care that during applying the liner you step as little as possible on the excavated plant plateaus, thus avoiding to damage them. The overlap of the pond liner which is situated over the pond side should be weighted but may not yet be cut off. You can do that a few weeks after the pond will have been filled with water.