Find the cure or repair for pond liners

Butyl or rubber

Butyl liners are the easiest to repair with patches you just push and squash into place. Alternatively a bicycle puncture repair outfit is just as satisfactory. The liner must be very dry. Use a hair drier.

Polyethylene or PVC liners

PVC can be repaired with proprietary 'PVC Repair Kits', generally available from water garden centres and swimming pool retailers. Some of these kits will even work underwater, but consider them as only emergency temporary repairs.

FIBREGLASS AND RIGID PLASTIC POOLS

Both types of pool can be repaired with normal fibreglass resin and matting. A typical car body repair kit contains enough materials to repair a riot of vandalism or years of accidents and decay. Some retailers used to sell an excellent ready mixed version in a tube but I think its limited shelf life put stockists off. It was particularly good for building up the edges of badly designed and sloppily manufactured preformed waterfall sections.

A nasty crack in this fibreglass pool was easily repaired with a Bondaglass car body repair kit. The whole of the patio are around the pool had sunk whilst the interior base of the pool had stayed put. The outside edge went with the patio and hence the crack. Sanded down and thoroughly rinsed the pool continued it life watertight but still somewhat distorted, but you wouldnt notice with it full of water and plants. The crack is just to the left of the waterfall.

ABS

ABS plastic pools can be repaired with the solvent glue for ABS drainpipes and guttering using a patch made from an off-cut of the same plastic. Just spread it on both surfaces and hold the two surfaces together tghtly for a minute or two.

HDP

HDP plastic pools can be repaired with a fibreglass repair kit or an HDP or Butyl repair kit. It must have been some pretty drastic event to puncture one of these.

Tip for cleaning out ponds that have flexible or rigid liners

The last few gallons in the pool that a pump or siphon cannot suck down to, and that are too much for a sponge or cloth, can be effectively swept up with a plastic dustpan and soft brush.