Water Pond Maintenance

Place filter fabric or straw bales around the pond where until the soil contains plant roots.

Soil lacking plant growth easily erodes with rainfall runoff and deposits the water bound siltation into the pond.

Another possible solution is to do what the Egyptians do: Build a dam that will collect and "store" silty water with little or no flow near the bottom. Most of the silt will precipitate out and collect as the base of the dam. You can remove the silt periodically.

Place a small pond just upstream to settle out the silt. Make this one easy to clean out the silt from.

(similar to dam just different perspective)

Brad

Hello Guest,

I worked at a goldfish farm, which sold plants and ponds as well. I had to answer the phone and give advice so this is from what I learned, hope it is useful.

you say a natural water pond. Do you mean it is a natural hollow in the ground which has filled with rain water? Or is it a built pond of concrete or fibre-glass?

If it is a totally pond where the water finds its own level and, where it also collects run-off rain water and it would have plants that grow on the edge and over time other plants will find a space to grow as well.

The silt is a natural product and in a totally natural pond, fish and frogs etc will move tiny amounts of soil from around the plants, into the water. Also dust and grit blows into the pond which builds yet more silt. Walking in the pond will wash a lot more silt out from under or around plants. As long as you do not stir the silt up by using a net or making waves, animals will live in the silt as well as some fish like catfish and tench.

You do not say how old the pond is, but if it was one you built, it can take a couple of years to 'naturalise'. Then it will start to clear and you will be able to see the bottom. After a storm or rain the water will be cloudy for a while. Also if there is not many floating plants like Lilies, to prevent the sun from getting to the water, it will make algae grow and that can fill the water to over-flowing. You have to remove it as it can strangle fish etc.

Take care

jfmfit

You don't give us much to work on. A natural pond would mean different situations to each CR4 member. Some may not even be able to visualize it.

Creating artificial wetlands in the flow paths must at least be considered.

Please give indications of the flow types, quantities, flow magnitude etc. of water entering the pond.

The pond could also be cleaned by pumping silty water to external upstream holding ponds where the silt could be trapped abstracted and sold or disposed of.

Vijay are we going to hear from you?

I'm guessing its not a true natural pond with fish and living plants. If this is the case, the pond professionals here add hydrochloric acid to dissolve any organic material in the water. Pond looks really clean, but is deadly to fish and plants.

I've seen several natural ponds as you've described near #^$*(#$&^$^ chemical manufacturing facilities in New Jersey

The pond description is vague, so let's start with a couple of questions.

Where is this "pond" and is it full to approximately the same level year round, or does "pond" water level fluctuate or even go dry?

And what exactly do you mean when you say, silt?

What I'm getting at is that true ponds should not silt significantly (neither should they require much maintenance, if any); so we need to clarify what it is we are dealing with.

Redirect the flow of the water so that the silt flows on down stream but the water will back up into the pond. Remember gravity is your friend. Friend run the inflow thru a pipe to the edge of his pond then into a box where the silt falls through the slats and the excess water falls back into the pond keeping it full.

However in time of flooding the pipe can become clogged or you cold create flooding problem in other areas. SO becareful.

IT'S NOT NICE TO MESS WITH MOTHER NATURE!

GA dadw5boys,

Interesting solution with possibilities. Put the cart behind the horse, who would have thought.

Brad

I'm not quite picturing it...and it seems like the virtue of the idea (maybe) lies in "putting the horse behind the cart." (That's not meant to say it's necessarily bad.)

As I see it, you want to narrow and divert the input stream (assuming there is one) at an elevation significantly higher than "pond" level, and direct it (at increased velocity) around the pond (say, in a sluice) or through the pond (in a pipe) to a straining receptacle in which silt would be slats-filtered (?) from water that will somehow flow into the pond...but also down stream? Maybe you could post a sketch to explain your idea?

All that aside, if you read my post just before yours, I don't see how workable ideas do much good without clearer description of both the "pond" and what is meant by silt in this case. Right now we don't even know how silt (whatever that may be in this case) is accumulating in the "pond" (whatever that may be). And, we don't know the scale we are dealing with in order to recommend do-able solutions. Then there are the "rights" involving the pond, water, and surrounding terrain that needs to be considered...in some areas, just because a water "resource" is on our land, doesn't mean we can always do with it, or should do with it, as we please...you know, the riparian rights and habitat thing.

Hello Guest,

not pulling any punches, you must get in touch again with a much more detailed description.

Need to know the following:

Do you own the land and or the pond?

Is the pond in a garden?

Its immediate surroundings?

Is it near a building?

Is there any over-hanging trees or bushes?

Is there any possibility of leave and or twigs/branches falling into the pond?

Is there likely to be leaves from nearby which could blow into the pond?

Is it a completely natural pond?

How big is the pond?

How deep the pond is?

Does the pond have a man made bottom?

Does the pond have a soil/clay based bottom?

Does the pond have a raised edge above the height of the grass etc

Does it have flora and fauna as per a 'natural pond'?

Is it a new pond?

Is it a pond you are clearing out and want to make the water clear?

Does it have another water course running into/through the pond?

Answer these questions and you are sure to get a perfect answer!

jfmfit

You forgot a couple of the most important variables.

Pond tributary area.

Soil type and permeability.

Land contours tributary to the pond (the steaper the slope the more likely erosion).

Identify all inlets and outlets. Storage below the outlet is retention while storage above the outlet is detention.

Hello eriew,

ok .

But you have now mentioned them.

As you may have seen I worked at a fish farm for goldfish and other fresh water pond fish.

The ponds we kept the fish in were fed by a river and, because the water slowly flowed there was almost always clear water. When it rained or, if someone was working up-river was one of the few times the water was not clear.

The fish farm was in a valley so any run-off from the valley sides went into the river and subsequently into our ponds. The ponds were linked by narrow gaps which had filters.these were mainly to catch any flora and to stop any fish movement between ponds. The ponds were about 25 metres square.

We had to clean the silt (basically soil and other detritus) by lowering the water level to about waste height and walking back and forth and the 'silt' would go down-stream to any unlucky person to deal with! .

I guess what I am trying to say is, silt is completely natural and, is something that has to be managed.

If however a pond in a garden, then every so often clearing the pond of weed, dead flowers and leaves is just one of those things we all look forward to!........Not!

jfmfit