There are 2 main reasons why a dam won't hold water , the first one is its leaking , the most common reason a dam leaks is an insufficient core trench or lack of a core trench altogether or the base is sand and rock and does not have an adequate layer of clay rolled in to provide a water tight seal .The second reason is excess silt or invasive weeds , over time as the dam collects the water run off it washes the top soil off the paddock into the dam and this builds up. The result is a thick sludge that absorbs water like a sponge so instead of slowly filling up after each rainfall , that water gets absorbed by the silt. Any form of invasive weeds in a dam will consume large amounts of water and this can significantly impact the dams ability to maintain any water collected

Trying to find the source of a dam leak is extremely difficult, even if you can see where the water is coming out it doesn't mean thats where its leaking from water will always flow to the lowest point .The first thing to look for is the dam base , is it rolled clay ? or is it loose sand and rock , without a rolled and compacted clay base a dam will never hold water . The second and most common reason is an inadequate or non existent core trench A core trench is installed when the dam is built , it sits under the supporting wall of the dam and is filled with compacted clay, its role is to provide a barrier that prevents water from seeping out of the join between natural ground and the dam wall . Most of the dams we restore were constructed 20 0r 30 years ago , back then you just got a bloke with a machine to dig a hole , there was no regulations or permits and many of them were already there when the current owner purchased the property .

The cost to restore a dam is based on 3 main things , The size of the dam , location of the excavated silt and does the dam hold water or not . To clean out an average size dam with the excess silt going in behind the wall the average cost is around $5,000 if the we have to transport the silt to another place on the property this usually adds around $2,000. To do the same job but install a new core trench , the cost would be around $9,000. These are estimates only based on our previous work history , to give an accurate quote a site visit is required