Lake Liners
Here at Everything Ponds, we specialize in liners for holding water; whether that be large lake liners for golf courses and fishing lakes, or small pond liners for koi and goldfish ponds. We have a number of different liner materials that we recommend depending on your particular application. If you’re not sure where to start, please feel free to call us anytime to talk to a liner professional.
Materials Choices for Lake Liners
We carry a few different types of liners here at Everything Ponds. Sometimes people get confused about which product is right for their particular application. The most expensive liner is not always the right choice! For example, some expensive liners, like EPDM rubber liners, work really great in small tight situations where a lot of bending and folding is required. This is because EPDM rubber is very soft and conformable. So if you’re lining a small backyard pond with numerous shelves, corners and bends, an EPDM rubber liner might be the right choice.
Have liner questions? Visit our FAQ page
Disadvantages of EPDM
However, all liners have some kind of tradeoff. While EPDM is great at being soft and conformable, it’s softness makes it quite easy to puncture. It is also very heavy, which means large pieces are often unmanageable, often leaving people to install the liner in multiple pieces, which requires seaming the liner on site. For these reasons, we would almost never recommend an EPDM rubber as a lake liner.
RPE – The Best Lake Liner
RPE, which stands for reinforced polyethylene, is our favorite product for large scale water retention projects like lakes, golf course water hazards, large farm ponds, or irrigation ponds. RPE is much stronger than EPDM. Depending on the thickness of RPE you go with, it is 3 to 6 times more puncture and tear resistant than EPDM. Another huge benefit is RPE is much lighter. For example, our 24 mil RPE liner, which is 3x more puncture resistant than EPDM, is also about 1/3 the weight of EPDM. This makes installing the liner MUCH easier. As a result, we can create very large pieces of RPE, up to 60,000 square feet in a single piece, and still have it be manageable during the installation. RPE is also available in a few different thicknesses depending on how much strength you need.
Which Thickness of RPE?
For lake liners, we usually start with the Premium Grade RPE Liner in the 30 mil thickness. If somebody needs extra strength, we’ll step up to the 40 mil, since it is double reinforced for extra puncture and tear resistance. For somebody who is more budget conscious, we can step down to the 24 mil, which is still a great liner, but is just a small step down from the 30 mil in strength and toughness. However, all that being said, as the liner gets thicker, it also gets slightly ‘stiffer’ to work with. For lakes and other medium to large projects, this usually isn’t a concern, but if somebody is looking for the most ‘bendable’ RPE liner, the 24 mil would be the best choice because it is the thinnest.
Have liner questions? Visit our FAQ page
If you have a particular application in mind for an RPE liner, your best bet would be to give us a call. We provide free design assistance, and we will look at your particular requirements and recommend the best liner for YOU.
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