Pond Liner

[Mike Roe]

I  read somewhere, that if you build a system and use pnd liner to build a system, the rubber will release toxins that will not harm the fish  but it will got into the pnats and make you sick. I sure hope this a false. As my whole system which is 30' long and 2 1/2 foot wide by 2 1/2 deep is pond liner. Any thoughts?

[Vlad Jovanovic]

Mike, that is a very, very hard thing for anyone to answer in a quality manner. Many more details are needed. Which pond liner? What materials? What is the 'mystery toxin' in question? And probably a host of others...

Even then, it's still a tough question since different people have different tolerances and/or sensitivities and can react extremely differently to different toxins (my wife and I, for instance, are like night and day on that one).

That being said...Most of the toxins that we could worry about in AP seem to effect bacterial or aquatic life first. It seems kind of far fetched (to me) that "plants will absorb" some sort of toxin and pass that on to you...but bacteria and fish will be OK. Not impossible, mind you (since I believe given the right conditions nothing in this world is impossible...good or bad), just improbable in my mind.

Do your research, check out the source of that info and choose/purchase wisely according to the decisions that you make for you and your Family ...wait did you mean to say that your liner is already in use? I take it it's EPDM fish safe liner (Firestone's)?

[DaveG]

Hi Vlad, What are your thoughts on Firestone's Fishsafe EPDM liner?

[Vlad Jovanovic]

Hi Dave. If I lived in the states, I'd probably use it. But would not use any from an 'unknown' manufacturer (read China).

When it comes to the 'D' in 'EPDM' manufacturers have a number of choices for that 'diene' component (and probably some other co-polymers)...many of which are probably not safe for aquatic life. Firestone is a pretty big and long standing company who have tested their particular product...made specifically to be 'safe' for aquatic life, and certified as such (not that that always means something)...Some 'no-name' made in China EPDM pond liner would be a risk I'd not be willing to take.

That said, as far as synthetics go, I'm a 'big' fan of virgin polyethylene. I understand that sometimes this can be cost prohibitive though. On the opposite side of that spectrum we have low cost, cheap, crappy pliable vinyl, which is a horrible material (mechanically inferior) and is made soft and pliable by the use of toxic (to humans) pthalates that leech over time...and have no place in a re-circulating food production system.

Hope some of that helped

[DaveG]

That helps a lot thanks!

Its really hard to separate the wheat from chaff in regards to some of these topics.

I was ready to write off using PVC pipe anywhere in my system until reading some of the posts here.