The changes in weather seem to be wreaking havoc on the plumbing parts. I have a couple of new leaks in the piping above ground and some hidden ones that only seem to happen when the pump is running. I am still getting some capillary/tubing leaks from folds in the liner so I need to fold the liner back into the bog so it has nowhere to go.
I am going to simplify some of the out going plumbing from the pump so that should help that. I may need to create some extra routing openings with valves and temporary returns so I can narrow down the other hidden leaks. I believe I am getting some leaks around the jets too. I will have to dig a little to verify, but the ground is very wet around them even under the excess liner.
Other news – Emma (my Daughter) and I are planning to finish the rebuild of the garden bench today after church and girl scout activities. The multicyclone pre-filter has finally cleared the water to the point that I could see the leaves and gunk on the bottom and remove them. I should now be able to see the bottom drain in action when I fix the leaks and restart the pump. The crocus plants that have been around the pond for the past 5 years are starting to flower. They don’t seem to mind the contantly changing temperatures.
Still day dreaming about building the tea house. I was at a hobby store yesterday and saw they had model building wood that is in scale to standard lumber. A 6″x6″ beam is 1/2″ x 1/2″ in the crafting wood, a 1/12 scale. So I may try to build a model to serve as a template for building the larger tea house. It should help in determining wood needs, esthetics, roof pitch, and any special joints/angles needed. Sojis will be challenging at that scale, so I may just use wood or foam core and marker for the inner lines to represent the soji.
Update: The leak was bigger and harder to find than expected. After disassembling threaded joints and taping them with teflon tape and reassembling I stopped the minor leaks around the joints. I then started removing the liner and digging around the jets, no problems there. Then I noticed water coming out between the bog liner and the deep part liner, so I started removing rocks at the most likely spot. Sure enough the water had found or made a 1/4 inch wide x 1/2 deep hole at the side of the bog. I had raised the bog sides when I first noticed the back would overflow with the pump on high speed. The side of the bog did not get completely closed in so instead of water flowing forward it was going out the side. Hard to explain but glad I found it. I built up the mortar and changed the rock on the leak side. I just have to let it all dry again.
