GCL Pond Lining · West Midlands
In an area built on clay, a bentonite liner is a natural fit for a pond. We lay and joint the GCL on your prepared Black Country formation, with bentonite at every overlap, and hand over ready for cover.
Base · Tamworth B78 2BP
The Black Country was built on clay as much as coal: Etruria marl for bricks and fireclay from around Stourbridge for crucibles and glassworks. Puddled clay held water in ponds and canals here for two centuries. A GCL does the same job with a factory-made layer of sodium bentonite between geotextiles.
It suits wildlife ponds, reserve pools and amenity water where a natural bed matters, along with school and community ponds that get a lot of handling.
A GCL depends on its bentonite swelling, and some water spoils that. Runoff from old industrial ground can carry dissolved salts and metals, and calcium-rich water can change the clay over time. Before recommending one we look at where the pond's water comes from. If it drains a slag tip, a yard or contaminated fill, we'll point you to a welded membrane instead.
Confinement is the other condition. The liner needs soil cover on top and gentle slopes to stay in place; steep batters and exposed edges suit membrane better.
Nothing is welded. Each joint is an overlap dressed with bentonite, so we measure lap widths and note the sealing panel by panel.
At handover you get our lap log and the depth of soil the GCL must have over it. Your contractor then spreads that soil and wets the clay, and quickly: bentonite that takes on water before it is held down swells loose and is wasted. We time the final rolls so that soil starts going on the same day they're laid.
On regenerated sites around Dudley, Netherton and Oldbury, a new pond is often part of the landscaping. Where the water comes off clean roofs or rain alone and the basin is gently shaped, a GCL gives it a soft bed of clay that marginal planting takes to readily. Where it takes yard runoff, we'd recommend a welded sheet.
Schools across Sandwell and Walsall use outdoor classrooms, and a GCL pond with a gently shelving edge suits them well: children can dip from the margin, and the odd jab from a net or a stick closes up as the clay swells.
GCL Pond Lining Black Country
Only once the groundworker has made the formation good. Brick, slag and voids in old fill must be dealt with first, and we walk and accept the surface before the first roll goes down.
Small ones. Wet bentonite swells many times over and presses into minor penetrations from roots or tools. It won't survive plant being driven across it.
Your contractor, as part of placing the cover. We confirm what's needed at handover so nothing is left to guesswork.
It depends on the product and the pond, and the manufacturer sets a minimum. We confirm the figure for your liner at handover, and the cover should be placed evenly so the clay is held down across the whole bed.
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