Does DamIt Dam Sealer Really Work?

[@J..O..D]

Thanks for your vids. I am looking at building a 5ac dam on my farm. I am an earthmoving veteran and I must say when you were building your dam using the flat drum and you mentioned you spent 2 hours rolling, alarm bells went off. I think a padfoot roller would be better suited for this application, and a good couple of days spent rolling would be a wise investment. The amount of erosion on the banks is a good tell tale that there is not enough compaction. I will likely spend a week compacting mine for insurance. Again, cheers for the vid.

[@offgridcitycouple5695]

@@J..O..D cheers for stopping by our channel ✌️ if we had access to a padfoot roller that would've been even better for both the mound and dam. Some parts in the dam were pretty sandy though and probably would've leaked despite the best compaction, thankfully the DamIt stuff saved us from having to rework everything. Bermuda grass and other crawling grasses are now finally stabilising the edges of the dam nicely. If only we knew about the right kinds of grass from the start, that erosion would've been stopped a lot quicker. But with nature taking over again it's all history 🙂

[@oilyragsgarage7200]

Always pays to read the instructions😀 Great result👍

[@offgridcitycouple5695]

@@oilyragsgarage7200 it's amazing how tempting it is sometimes to avoid a few paragraphs of reading lol

[@Cards36555]

Great channel 👍👍👍

[@offgridcitycouple5695]

@@Cards36555 🙏✌️

[@allisonwoods6161]

As always guys, a very informative video. Great to hear it worked well and better still didnt cost a smalll fortune to seal your valuable water source 😊

[@whoguy4231]

So good to see you guys getting on with your build ... Awesome work

[@offgridcitycouple5695]

@@whoguy4231 one steady step at a time 🙂

[@inkironmojo775]

awesome video, great details thanks for sharing .. having this issue in my dam in Grafton.. thanks mate

[@offgridcitycouple5695]

@@inkironmojo775 no worries ✌️, all the best for getting those leaks sealed up

[@CottonMitts]

Wow 👍🏻 great video 😁 I would say you can right off the cost of the kayak now that you are using it for ongoing entertainment and access to your dam 🥰 I’d be looking at ways to get the suspended sediment to sink and clear the water as well.

[@offgridcitycouple5695]

@@CottonMitts thanks Cotton Mitts 🙂 the kayaks are great value for a couple hundred dollars, one of the best investments yet. And yeah we've seen flocking agents out there that seem pretty cool. After swimming in this kind of water we're kinda used to it now though. It looks brown but doesn't feel or smell dirty at all 🙂

[@offcampnandy7727]

Interesting and great vid Guys 👍👍👍 Interesting to see how much effort goes into making a dam🤔I guess unless you have the right soil conditions it could be quite laborious and expensive, but clearly rewarding in the end 👍👍👍 Will you stock the dam with any crustacean goodies 🍤🍤🍤 Great watch 👍 Cheers Andy 🍺🍺🍺

[@offgridcitycouple5695]

@@offcampnandy7727 cheers Andy ✌️ If there's no clay it would be pretty expensive to cart in truck loads of clay to line the dam with it, but if there's an alright amount of clay it's really cool having these polymer sealers as a backup. Gives that extra confidence that it's all good even if there's a leak. Water is life so totally worth it, and then u have a pond forever. And yeah the plan is to put some hollow logs in there to help fish spawn and then add some silver perch or something. Then home grown protein is sorted 🙂 yabbies seem to do well in dams too

[@honeybacres]

I have used a polymer product in our dam.A different brand but basically the same stuff. We have had excellent results with it. We just did one application though pretty heavily and haven't had any leaks now for nearly three years. I have heard of people having way more trouble and spending much more trying to seal dams with bentonite. Like you said I think most people who don't get a good result from polymer sealers haven't applied the product correctly.

[@offgridcitycouple5695]

@@honeybacres that's awesome to hear that it's holding for 3 years for you guys, will be helpful for others to see your comment of a successful application 🙂

[@honeybacres]

@@offgridcitycouple5695 yes. People are often very quick to voice their opinion when they are not happy but stay quiet when they are content.

[@janrobertbos]

...NICE!!!😁

[@offgridcitycouple5695]

@@janrobertbos 🤠

[@Houseofbulger]

Thinking about applying this product to my dam that is leaking. Is your dam still holding water? Cheers

[@offgridcitycouple5695]

@@Houseofbulger yep still good 👍 someone else mentioned in these comments that theirs is good 3 years on

[@lawrencerolls3643]

Do you have yabbies in your pond? I did not see any evidence of them, holes, shells etc. I was wondering if their burrowing would affect the effectiveness of the product.

[@offgridcitycouple5695]

@@lawrencerolls3643 that's an interesting question, there should be some yabbies in there from the ponds that connect to the dam. Not sure how big of an impact they'd make though 🤔

[@bobjoatmon1993]

Interesting video, thanks for the analysis / results

[@offgridcitycouple5695]

@@bobjoatmon1993 cheers, thanks for stopping by 🙂

[@mlpwoiuejsjewelsh788]

Did the leak return?

[@offgridcitycouple5695]

@@mlpwoiuejsjewelsh788 nope 👍

[@GreenHavenFarmStay]

Does the slimy feeling eventually go away?

[@offgridcitycouple5695]

@@GreenHavenFarmStay yeah it does, but we still have some jelly sitting on the bottom. Which should mean that if there was a little leak forming in the future it should repair itself

[@wiktorpoliszczuk1372]

😀😀😀😀😀

[@ROOBOY-p3x]

i wonder how it works with brackish / salty bore water ?

[@offgridcitycouple5695]

@@ROOBOY-p3x don't see how it would be an issue, the guys at Shalex probably have tried their product in brackish water already. Then when it rains the salinity is diluted too

[@cheryesido364]

Is there any toxicity?

[@offgridcitycouple5695]

@@cheryesido364 there was a bit on that in the video, but in summary I was fine after walking through it, some got in my eyes and that wasn't a problem, even the tadpoles in the dam ate some and pooped it out with no issues. It can be used in drinking water reservoirs

[@cheryesido364]

@@offgridcitycouple5695 hi, yeh, I saw you mention it after I asked the question.

[@curtisjones1904]

Guar Gum is a lot cheaper mate ;-)

[@offgridcitycouple5695]

@@curtisjones1904 bet this stuff is relatively inexpensive to manufacture as well lol but the value it provides sets the cost. Has guar gum been used for sealing dams?

[@curtisjones1904]

​@@offgridcitycouple5695 It will - works as a bridging and binding agent. It'll make all the fines and slimes in your water and on the bottom agglomerate, making them denser and due to the nature of guar, stickier. Hydrostatic pressure then forces the muck into the pores and seepage routes in the bottom of your dam and it'll seal up. The more murk in your water or on the bottom, the better the effect. Side bonus - it'll clarify the water. Not so effective if the cause of your loss is a bad key lock at the base of a dam wall - like free flowing, your know, instead of percolating. It's non-toxic too. If your leak pathway is higher up on the sides of your dam it won't be very effective. Worth a shot if the polymer you're currently using does not give you any joy.

[@offgridcitycouple5695]

@@curtisjones1904 sounds like a new patent in the making there 🤔 "guar gum natural dam sealer", Shalex watch out!

[@666bruv]

Should have been sown down with an aggressive grass seed when finished building

[@offgridcitycouple5695]

@@666bruv yes definitely, all things we didn't but now know... Bermuda grass would have saved those batters from scouring like that, come summer we'll have a chance to make it all green 🙂

[@666bruv]

@@offgridcitycouple5695 I'm looking at switch grass online at the mo'. Massive growth potential