Brenda wrote:

I have a garden pond of approx sizes of 8' x 10' which is full of
green slime. I need to drain the pond to refill it with clean water.
Has anyone got any suggestions and tips on how this can be achieved.
Please bear in mind that I am of a senior age and I don't want
anything too strenuous if possible.

Can anyone help!!
p.s. How can I prevent this from happening in the future.


If it's just a pond of standing water, you have more of a mosquito
breading pit than a water feature, and you're going to have more
problems keeping it clean than if you have moving water, like a fountain
or a waterfall. You'll still have to occasionally clean it out -- once a
year is good -- but it'll generally be in better shape.

The pump that you use for the fountain or to pump water to the top of
the waterfall can be used to empty most of it, too. Either redirect the
hose (or attach a different hose) to dump the water where you want.
(Don't just send it down the storm sewer. Unless it's loaded with
chemicals, it'll do wonders for your lawn or garden.)

Once the pump drains out as much water as it can (you may have to stop
it a few times to unclog the strainer that's usually part of the outside
of the pump body), then you'll have to scoop stuff out by hand. If
you've got a lot of sludge, like decomposing leaves and such, a wet-dry
vac is good at this point. Again, if the pond hasn't been loaded with
chemicals, the sludge would be good for your garden.

After that I'd rinse down the sides using a garden hose set to a sharp
stream, depending upon your liner. You don't want to damage the liner,
so a power washer is probably going to be too much. Rinse down as much
as you can, pump or wet vac it out, and then let the pond sit dry for a
day or two before filling it with fresh water.

If you want to raise fish or grow water plants in the pond, you'll need
to regularly test the water, and then adjust the pH as needed. If you're
just going to use it as a water feature it's less critical what you do
to it, but keep in mind that wildlife and pets may drink from the pond,
so be careful about what you put in it. The goal is to set up a
self-sustaining ecosystem so the water essentially cleans itself (more
or less) naturally, and doesn't become a mosquito breeding pit. You're
not going to be able to make the water potable for humans. I'd also
avoid turning it into a chemical filled swimming pool that's too small
to swim in anyway. Overall, that's not going to be any easier to
maintain than a more natural water environment. (And the smell of
chlorine doesn't exactly refresh the soul when contemplating life next
to your water feature.)

You shouldn't need to do any scrubbing, and depending on the length of
the wand on your wet-dry vac, you may not need to get on your knees for
anything other than pump placement and such. Maintaining the water
feature doesn't take a lot of back breaking work, but if there is a lot
of evaporation, it can be expensive to keep refilling it. If there is a
hole in your liner, replacing the liner may require a bit of physical
work, but generally it's mostly a pond is just a lot of custodial work.

If there are trees nearby, you may want to invest in a skimmer net to
scoop-out leaves while they're still floating on the surface, otherwise
they'll end up part of the sludge on the bottom of the pond.

--
Warren H.

==========
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Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.