Running downspouts to pond

[Meyer Jordan]

Nope no concern. The concern would start if the water started to shine with an oil slick or there were dead possums floating on the top or if it stunk so much it would gag a maggot. I haven't seen that at any ponds but I'm sure that it happens. I doubt that it would happen from runoff from a roof but then again maybe I'm wrong. I hope things are okay in Florida and you didn't get hit too hard with hurricane Hermine

Wow! That certainly runs counter to a widely and long-held belief of both Pond owners and environmentalists.

Mermine missed my area. It was a minimal hurricane.

 

[mgmine]

Wow! That certainly runs counter to a widely and long-held belief of both Pond owners and environmentalists.

Mermine missed my area. It was a minimal hurricane.

It probably does but my view is that people read too much and think too little. The lakes are more likely to be unusable than a garden pond or farm pond with just normal runoff going into it. I'm thinking about several farm type ponds that I know of that people swim in as well as the condo lake that takes all the runoff from the paved parking lots and everything else around the property . Fish and even the alligator are doing fine. I wouldn't drink the water but then again I don't drink my own well water. Common sense tells you that it has to be bad water in those ponds but reality doesn't always follow common sense.

 

[JBailey]

We're hoping to have a new metal roof put on, so that should cut down on some contaminants. Also hoping to keep most of the pine needles out of the gutters so they won't be a big factor in runoff. At very least a functional rain garden will do. Someplace for the frogs to hang out and not get harassed by my goldfish.

 

[TAHOE]

I have done research in collecting water due to a bad well, if done properly, there is no real major concern for worry about water quality.
If I was collecting water for a pond, I would most likely collect in 55 gal drums or if I had the room, 300 gal totes. This would mainly allow me to fill pond as needed and not worry about over flow during rains.
As far as roof contaminates, unless you are near a farm, park, or have a lot of crop dusting, pesticides are probably non existent. Most "new roof" chemicals are washed off in the first fee months, granules from shingles are basically inert. If you put gutter gaurds on, that wil keep most tree debris put also. If you collect water, you could alway pump through home filters or a reverse osmosis system as insurance.

Have you heard of first flush systems? They are used to get clean water collection from roof by collecting the initial debris. Most peppers who collect water for home usage use them. There are commercial ones out there, but I'm a DIY guy and will be building my own soon to collect water in drums for my livestock and also to fill my cistern once I repair it.

I've watched a ton of videos on this, I like this guy's version the best, especially the bottom screw off plugs for clean out. I may use plastic balls instead of the bottle as stopper. This video in his series is mainly on the first flush system. If you want more ideas, for the first flush just youtube search rainwater first flush.

 

[JBailey]

We're actually planning a water collection system from our shop roof, into a large cistern, and have done tons of research. I want the runoff from the main house to be directed away from the house yard though, and having it fill a pond first is just a way to make use of the water instead of it all going into french drains or the yard. I am actually hoping it will overflow and create a boggy area where my land is lowest.