We moved into a new house over the winter that has a water feature in the back yard that was neglected. It has a main pond that pumps the water up to a "waterfall" which then flows down to a second smaller pond and continues back around to the main, it is a giant oval that takes up our entire back yard. I'm assuming because it was neglected while vacant and we didn't do anything to it over the winter we know have this problem. The water in both ponds is black and smells like sewage. The larger main pond has a drainage pump but only drains about half the water and the smaller pond doesn't have any drainage at all. Any recommendations on how to clean the water and the bottoms of the ponds? I was also considering putting fish in the larger pond, and would like to know if this is possible for this pond and my location, I'm in Denver.
Pond at New House smells like sewage
- Thread starter Kreg87
- Start date
how deep is the pond?
They are both about 2ft or a little less
Drain the pond completely, allow everything to more or less dry out, when it is fairly easy to extract the bulk of the debris in convenient chunks it can be used for extra fertile soil for a flower bed someplace else
When the pond is clear of the bulk of the debris, refill with water, use bleach to disinfect the whole lot of any unknown legacy problems. After a couple of days the pond will ready for better days...
Regards, andy
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21940871@N06/
http://swglist.wordpress.com/
When the pond is clear of the bulk of the debris, refill with water, use bleach to disinfect the whole lot of any unknown legacy problems. After a couple of days the pond will ready for better days...
Regards, andy
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21940871@N06/
http://swglist.wordpress.com/
Will the bleach kill any good plant life in there? There does seem to be a ground cover type plant growing in the bottom which I don't know if it should be left or removed, there are also cattails which again I'm not sure if they should be left as I've heard they can take over a pond.
You can salvage what you think is a keeper, to replant when the pond is good to go. The important thing is to remove the excess pollution, eliminate any potential bacteria nasties, fish parasites, crown rot, so a healthy balanced pond gets the chance to establish
Draining and drying the pond makes it easier and safer to remove the toxic gunk... that can fertilise someplace else
A bleach dose equivalent to one spoon per three gallons water won't bother the plants
Some smaller forms of cattail do well in a pond, the big beasties reedmace, Typha latifolia and angustifolia are not, they can form a difficult titanic knot of tough roots faster than is convenient to wrestle with
Draining and drying the pond makes it easier and safer to remove the toxic gunk... that can fertilise someplace else
A bleach dose equivalent to one spoon per three gallons water won't bother the plants
Some smaller forms of cattail do well in a pond, the big beasties reedmace, Typha latifolia and angustifolia are not, they can form a difficult titanic knot of tough roots faster than is convenient to wrestle with
Yes, bleach will kill everything. There's no reason to bleach. It stinks because it is full of debris and devoid of oxygen. It needs a good cleaning. Pull out the plants, put those you might want in a tub(s). Take a net and scoop out debris and put it on your compost pile.
Why does the pump only drain about half the water? Is it location? Can it be moved? If you can't make use of it, get a pump from Harbor Freight and some tubing that will fit on it. After you get the solid crap out, pump out the water. When it's empty, just wash it with a hose and pump the water out until nothing more rinses off. It will probably still smell bad. Fill it with clean water and the stink should go away. Pot and replace the plants you want to keep.
Why does the pump only drain about half the water? Is it location? Can it be moved? If you can't make use of it, get a pump from Harbor Freight and some tubing that will fit on it. After you get the solid crap out, pump out the water. When it's empty, just wash it with a hose and pump the water out until nothing more rinses off. It will probably still smell bad. Fill it with clean water and the stink should go away. Pot and replace the plants you want to keep.
No, bleach does not kill everything, it briefly releases chlorine which at light doses will not bother the plants, but it will kill those things that would destroy fish and waterlilies in future. It will also kill off aneirobic bacteria which thrives in polluted water which can kill critters drinking from the pond and infect humans with some of the most deadly bacteria...
A fairly good reason to use bleach...
A fairly good reason to use bleach...
Mmathis
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Does it have a liner (like rubber or PVC)? Sorry, but it was hard to tell much from the pics. Does it have a bottom drain? If it only partially drains, is it because the pump isn't directly on the bottom? Maybe you could get a sump pump to put in and get all the water out that way. With a liner in place, I'd be careful what you use to get the crud out with -- use care not to damage the liner, is what I mean. It sure sounds gross (good think I can't "smell" it...) and I'm sure you want to take care of it as quickly and efficiently as possible.
And BTW, welcome to the GPF!
And BTW, welcome to the GPF!
As far as I can tell from it being half drained I don't see any sign of liner. Until I get it completely drained I won't be able to tell why it only drains half way. I assumed it had a drain at the bottom but when I turned on the pump it only drained half the water then started sputtering like it couldn't reach any more, however I can still see no sign of the pump inside the pond. And until I get it drained I'm not to keen to jump in and explore.
When drained and all the gunk settles and gets close to drying out, the weight of the water is gone, it can be really easy to pick up or roll up the whole lot in one go, a mat that is left on the bottom of the pond, it will be surprisingly light when close to dry.
Heckuva lot easier than struggling with everything wet, muddy... eeuw
Heckuva lot easier than struggling with everything wet, muddy... eeuw
Because of the look and depth it looks like an Aquascape pond, whether built by an authorized Aquascape contractor or not. These are normally liner with a layer of rocks, although some non-Aquascape installers vary the design, or sometimes some rocks are removed later. But from the questions you're asking and experience level I'd say following a Aquascape maintenance routine requires the least amount of research. There is a lot of info available if you Google "aquascape pond maintenance". There should be many Aquascape contractors in your area who do this kind of clean out everyday.
The kind of info you get in a pond forum will depend on the forum. Each forum focuses on a specific type of pond, although each claims to be about all ponds. There's basically an infinite number of ways to maintain a pond, almost every method conflicts with each other so it can sound pretty confusing. For example a build up of muck is a desired goal in some ponds while in others it is considered the most vile, toxic, polluted substance on the planet. And every opinion in between.
The bleach thing is not needed. If you did want to kill all bacteria the bleach thing would not be effective unless maybe we were talking many gallons of bleach. You could kill some stuff, but not really put a dent in it. There are cases when this type of sterilization is desired, like when a pond has been infected with a virus. In that case the pond is filled with water and the level of some chemical, like chlorine, potassium permanganate, etc., is maintained for some period of time.
The bacteria are like any animal. Given food they reproduce. If you do sterilize a pond the bacteria will be right back within days, or hours. The amount of organic debris allowed to collect in the pond goes toward supporting a larger and larger population. So the cleaner you keep the pond the lower the bacteria population, at least the species that lives off that food.
The kind of info you get in a pond forum will depend on the forum. Each forum focuses on a specific type of pond, although each claims to be about all ponds. There's basically an infinite number of ways to maintain a pond, almost every method conflicts with each other so it can sound pretty confusing. For example a build up of muck is a desired goal in some ponds while in others it is considered the most vile, toxic, polluted substance on the planet. And every opinion in between.
The bleach thing is not needed. If you did want to kill all bacteria the bleach thing would not be effective unless maybe we were talking many gallons of bleach. You could kill some stuff, but not really put a dent in it. There are cases when this type of sterilization is desired, like when a pond has been infected with a virus. In that case the pond is filled with water and the level of some chemical, like chlorine, potassium permanganate, etc., is maintained for some period of time.
The bacteria are like any animal. Given food they reproduce. If you do sterilize a pond the bacteria will be right back within days, or hours. The amount of organic debris allowed to collect in the pond goes toward supporting a larger and larger population. So the cleaner you keep the pond the lower the bacteria population, at least the species that lives off that food.
Thank you everyone for the advise, I drained as much of the foul water as I could and refilled it with fresh water. I also purchased a product from the local landscaping company that they recommended to clear the water of anything harmful and will also help break down any leaves that I was unable to scoop out. It already looks so much better, I can see to the bottom, but it still has some way to go.
I do have a follow up question: Do I need to leave the pump the produces the stream connecting the two ponds running 24/7 or turn it off at night? I have been trying to do my research and keep reading about how important aeration and filtration are. From what I can tell there is no other aeration system besides the water falls into each pond and no filtration whatsoever. I am planning on putting fish inside both and want to keep them healthy and oxygenated. Do I need to purchase any accessories for this or will the water falls and the product I bought to clean the water be enough?
I do have a follow up question: Do I need to leave the pump the produces the stream connecting the two ponds running 24/7 or turn it off at night? I have been trying to do my research and keep reading about how important aeration and filtration are. From what I can tell there is no other aeration system besides the water falls into each pond and no filtration whatsoever. I am planning on putting fish inside both and want to keep them healthy and oxygenated. Do I need to purchase any accessories for this or will the water falls and the product I bought to clean the water be enough?