If you’re building a pond, there are lots of options available, from RPE liners to EPDM, HPDE, and even rigid plastic pond liners. HPDE is a popular material, and there are many reasons for that. Here, we’ll take an in-depth look at some of the top reasons to choose HPDE liner material.
1. You’re Lining a Large Pond
Rigid pond liners aren’t available past a certain size—generally small ponds. If you want to line a medium to large pond, you’ll need an alternative, like a clay liner or a flexible liner. HDPE works quite well to line larger ponds.
2. HDPE is Highly Chemical Resistant
While caustic chemicals are unlikely in recreational ponds, HPDE does feature a chemical resistance that will provide you some added insurance against potential contamination that could degrade other types of liners. And if you’re creating a containment pond for chemicals, salt, agricultural runoff or something along these lines, then you’ll probably end up relying on HDPE to prevent leaks and contamination into the local environment.
HDPE’s superior resistance to chemicals makes it the popular choice for landfills and chemical containment sites. These ponds have been known to last more than three decades when covered.
3. Good UV Resistance
UV resistance is a crucial part of pond liner design—and yet a lot of liners, particularly rigid liners and PVC liner, aren’t UV resistant. However, ponds that will be placed in sunny locales will get a lot of UV exposure. When you use a material like PVC or rigid liners, they can become brittle after exposure to UV rays, and that will lead to their rapid deterioration. HDPE features a good UV resistance, which makes it ideal as a pond liner in sunny spots.
4. Ease of Installation
HDPE has upsides and downsides when it comes to installation. It is a flexible liner, but it’s the most rigid of the flexible liner options available, which can make it hard to roll out over large spans. However, it still isn’t as difficult as creating a perfectly contoured excavation to fit and support the contours of a preformed pond liner.
Another advantage to installation is that HDPE is easy to weld. In larger ponds, seams will be a necessity—and you’ll need a seaming system that is both easy to install and doesn’t increase the risk of leaks. HDPE gives you assurances on both counts.
5. Fish and Plant Safety
A lot of liner materials—namely preformed liners, PVC, and other plastics, are not fish or plant safe because they are known to leach toxic chemicals into the water. For that matter, you’d want to avoid using this type of liner in agricultural ponds where the water will be used for livestock or irrigation. HDPE, on the other hand, does not leach toxins into the water, which makes it safe for fish, aquaculture, agriculture, and a variety of other uses.
6. Durability
HDPE is a highly puncture proof material, and because it is somewhat flexible, it’s more resistant to cracks than rigid materials. However, it isn’t quite as crack resistant as materials like RPE liners. When covered, these ponds have a lifespan that extends over 30 years.
7. Cold Temperature Performance
In areas where temperatures dip below freezing in the winter, cold temperature performance is a key factor that can drastically affect the lifespan of your pond. In general, pond liners shouldn’t become brittle in the cold, and they should resist cracking if water freezes and expands within the pond. HDPE is a great choice in cold climates because it stands up well to cold temperatures.
8. HDPE is Recyclable
Many other pond liner materials are not recyclable, which means they’re too toxic or too difficult to recycle. Once unusable as a pond liner, you’ll have to repurpose them for some other use around your property or business, or they’ll more than likely end up in a landfill. HDPE, however, is made of a single polymer plastic, which makes it highly recyclable—and that makes it easier on you and the environment when it’s time to get rid of that old pond liner.
9. Affordable and Cost Effective
One of the big selling points of HDPE compared to other types of pond liners is that it is both affordable and cost effective. Affordability means that you’ll save on the initial investment compared to other types of pond liners. Cost effective refers to the amount of money you’ll spend over time on maintenance, leak repairs, or replacement should the liner fail. Because HDPE isn’t prone to cracking or punctures like other liners, and since the welded seams aren’t susceptible to leaking, these types of liners keep your maintenance costs low—and offer a long lifespan, which keeps replacement costs down, too.
10. Environmentally Friendly
Many of the factors mentioned above all roll together to make HDPE an incredibly environmentally friendly option among pond liners—which is perfect if you want to build a green, eco-friendly pond. This liner is less prone to leaks, which makes it less likely that leaks will contaminate the surrounding environment. They don’t leach chemicals into the water—nor into the soil beneath and surrounding the pond. On top of that, because they’re recyclable, you can avoid creating landfill waste when you’re finished with an HDPE liner.
There are lots of reasons to choose HDPE as your pond liner. This is a common material in agricultural and industrial settings in large part because it is so durable. Farmers, miners, landfill operators and others all rely on that durability to prevent potentially dangerous leaks and spills.