Clearing algae and silt loaded water
 

Like many people here our pond developed it's usual pea green algae
bloom this spring. On top of that the fish had been mostly unseen for
about 18 months after a plant emptied it's soil into the pond and turned
it murky.

So, after reading all the useful replies here, I decided to tackle the
problem. The methods that I chose were UV clarifier and filter wool.
The UV device is an 18 watt basic unit off of eBay, it cost about £45
with postage and packing. We plumbed the UV clarifying in between the
submerged pump and filter tank. The filter wool is 12mm thick, 1m wide
and came in a roll of 10m. We layered that two ply on top of the filter
media as a final filtration step before water exited into a small veggie
filter. Without the wool I don't think my Skipy style filter would have
caught the flocculated algae cells.

The result -
After one week the water was looking less murky, but still pea green.
After two weeks the water was 'transparent' but green.
After three weeks the water was crystal clear.

I suspect that the dissolved solids were rendering the UV clarifier
almost useless to begin with. Once the water was clear and 'transparent'
the UV could travel further and do more work on the algae.

The filter wool clogs up quickly, it will change from white to brown in
a few hours. We cut it in to squares that fit the filter tank and used
either 2 or 3 layers. They needed changing or cleaning every 4 or 5 days
while the algae was being removed. Now that the pond is clear they last
a week. It's wonderful being able to see the fish again, so I highly
recommend tackling the problem seriously to solve it in time for summer.

Thanks again for the r.p.m wisdom.

--
DavidM
www.djmorgan.org.uk

Clearing algae and silt loaded water
 

Congratulations, David!

Your post should be kept as an example of follow through with algae!
Now, lots of plants to continue grabbing nutrients and you will not
need the UV. You might try that out in a short while. We needed ours
at the start of the season for a number of years. This year, we have
not bothered as the water has been clear throughout.

Jim

Clearing algae and silt loaded water
 

Phyllis and Jim wrote, On 31/05/2008 01:39:
Congratulations, David!

Your post should be kept as an example of follow through with algae!
Now, lots of plants to continue grabbing nutrients and you will not
need the UV. You might try that out in a short while. We needed ours
at the start of the season for a number of years. This year, we have
not bothered as the water has been clear throughout.

Jim

Thanks Jim. I think half the fun on ponding is overcoming these kind of
challenges, it gives a real sense of achievement. The trouble is, I'll
now find different things in the pond to focus on, that will probably
cause new problems :)

For the first few years our pond was crammed full of plants and the
algae was less of a pest. That seemed to introduced it's own problems
though, such as filters clogging up with partly decomposed plant and
trapped material rotting in the pond. I'm pretty sure that a bad fish
infection was due to organic pollution in the water. I removed most of
the plants a couple of years ago, and now try to keep them to their baskets.

Now that the algae has been removed, the small veggie filter is
overflowing with water cress and mint. The large iris in baskets are
also doing very well. Like you say, the aim is to turn off the UV soon
and hopefully let the plants starve out the algae. I expect it will take
a while to get the balance just right. Do you allow water to flow
through the until UV unit all year, or do you divert it. I'm not sure
how much damage will be done to the glass pipes inside.


--
DavidM
www.djmorgan.org.uk

Clearing algae and silt loaded water
 

The water has been moving through the filter for a decade. No
problems. We do clean off the sleeve from time to time.

Jim

Clearing algae and silt loaded water
 

I am baffled, but after having NO algae with my "in pond veggie filter" this spring I
suddenly got algae. The temp had dropped again (outside and in the pond). I turned
on the UV and in 3 days it was clear. But I am surprised that the algae reappeared.
maybe because the pond was getting more sun. sigh. so my hope for not having to use
the UV are once again dampened. Ingrid

Clearing algae and silt loaded water
 

Bummer about the algae. I am hoping my pond does not hear about the
situation!

Jim

Clearing algae and silt loaded water
 

Phyllis and Jim wrote:
The water has been moving through the filter for a decade. No
problems. We do clean off the sleeve from time to time.

Jim

Hi,

We have a fountain that is like a pond, in that it is 2ft deep and 10
feet in diameter. The problem I have is not only algae, but lots of
muck in the bottom. I don't raise fish or plants in the water. Last
year I emptied it and scrubbed it down. This year it was even worse
with leaves and debris on the bottom. The problem is since it is vinyl
lined with folds in the bottom, it is very hard to get the muck cleaned
out. Also we don't have a drain so I have to siphon the water out, so I
can't use water pressure to clean in the folds.

Does the filter you use fix that problem? If so, what kind of filter do
you use.

Thanks,
Sheila

Clearing algae and silt loaded water
 

Sheila wrote:
Last
year I emptied it and scrubbed it down. This year it was even worse
with leaves and debris on the bottom. The problem is since it is vinyl
lined with folds in the bottom, it is very hard to get the muck cleaned
out. Also we don't have a drain so I have to siphon the water out, so I
can't use water pressure to clean in the folds.


The way I would attack this is
1) Siphon almost all the water out
2) With a hose, spray as much muck out of the corners and crannies as
you can.
3) Repeat 1) and 2) as necessary.

Chip

Clearing algae and silt loaded water
 

Sheila wrote:
Last year I emptied it and scrubbed it down. This year it was even worse
with leaves and debris on the bottom. The problem is since it is vinyl
lined with folds in the bottom, it is very hard to get the muck cleaned
out. Also we don't have a drain so I have to siphon the water out, so I
can't use water pressure to clean in the folds.

Hi Sheila, have you tried a shop vac after you've gotten it empty? ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

Clearing algae and silt loaded water
 

If your fountain has no living things in it, you can use an algecide
to keep it clear. You will still have to clean out the muck.

Jim

Clearing algae and silt loaded water
 

If nothing else I would get a sump pump or the like to empty out the
fountain so you can clean it properly. What is the sprinkler/fountain
mechanism? Do you have overhanging trees or something else that is dropping
litter in the pond or is the organic debris simply from algae? You can get
pool chemicals that will keep the water free of algae. If you don't have
anything else dropping litter in the pond, then that should be enough to
keep it clear and clean. With something that size I would not able to
resist at least a few plants and gold fish - of course then you could not
use the pool chemicals... Donna


"Sheila" wrote in message
. ..
Phyllis and Jim wrote:
The water has been moving through the filter for a decade. No
problems. We do clean off the sleeve from time to time.

Jim

Hi,

We have a fountain that is like a pond, in that it is 2ft deep and 10 feet
in diameter. The problem I have is not only algae, but lots of muck in
the bottom. I don't raise fish or plants in the water. Last year I
emptied it and scrubbed it down. This year it was even worse with leaves
and debris on the bottom. The problem is since it is vinyl lined with
folds in the bottom, it is very hard to get the muck cleaned out. Also we
don't have a drain so I have to siphon the water out, so I can't use water
pressure to clean in the folds.

Does the filter you use fix that problem? If so, what kind of filter do
you use.

Thanks,
Sheila

Clearing algae and silt loaded water
 

Chip wrote:
Sheila wrote:
Last
year I emptied it and scrubbed it down. This year it was even worse
with leaves and debris on the bottom. The problem is since it is
vinyl lined with folds in the bottom, it is very hard to get the muck
cleaned out. Also we don't have a drain so I have to siphon the water
out, so I can't use water pressure to clean in the folds.


The way I would attack this is
1) Siphon almost all the water out
2) With a hose, spray as much muck out of the corners and crannies as
you can.
3) Repeat 1) and 2) as necessary.

Chip

Thanks Chip,

I drained it the other day and was waiting for it to completely and was
waiting for it to dry. It rained 2 days ago and refilled it a couple
inches, I'll drain again and will try using my husband's shopvac. There
was lots and lots of algae in the pond, also tadpoles, red mud and sand.

Your idea to spray in the cracks and redrain and repeat is a good idea.

Sheila

Clearing algae and silt loaded water
 

~ jan wrote:
Sheila wrote:
Last year I emptied it and scrubbed it down. This year it was even worse
with leaves and debris on the bottom. The problem is since it is vinyl
lined with folds in the bottom, it is very hard to get the muck cleaned
out. Also we don't have a drain so I have to siphon the water out, so I
can't use water pressure to clean in the folds.

Hi Sheila, have you tried a shop vac after you've gotten it empty? ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us



Jan,

I drained it a couple days ago and am waiting for it to completely dry
and that is what I was going to try next. It rained that night a couple
inches and we had company all day today, so I haven't tried it yet.



Thanks for the suggestion.

Sheila

Clearing algae and silt loaded water
 

Phyllis and Jim wrote:
If your fountain has no living things in it, you can use an algecide
to keep it clear. You will still have to clean out the muck.

Jim


The trees a quite a ways off, but it was full of algae, mud, sand, and
tadpoles.

I will now use an algaecide to keep it clear, but it the muck that
builds up that I was hoping to filter, out mainly mud and sand.

Sheila

Clearing algae and silt loaded water
 

On Fri, 15 Aug 2008 01:29:55 EDT, Sheila wrote:


The trees a quite a ways off, but it was full of algae, mud, sand, and
tadpoles.

What did you do with the tadpoles?

builds up that I was hoping to filter, out mainly mud and sand.

Is it real dusty around you, or has it been a long time since the last
clean out? ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

Clearing algae and silt loaded water
 

~ jan wrote:
On Fri, 15 Aug 2008 01:29:55 EDT, Sheila wrote:

The trees a quite a ways off, but it was full of algae, mud, sand, and
tadpoles.

What did you do with the tadpoles?

builds up that I was hoping to filter, out mainly mud and sand.

Is it real dusty around you, or has it been a long time since the last
clean out? ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us


The tadpoles were fished out and put in a neighbor real pond that is a
couple acres in area.

We get a lot of dust when we mow the lawn, and it hasn't been cleaned
for 2 years. I broke my arm last summer and was not able to cope with
cleaning it.

Sheila

Clearing algae and silt loaded water
 

~ jan wrote:
On Fri, 15 Aug 2008 01:29:55 EDT, Sheila wrote:

The trees a quite a ways off, but it was full of algae, mud, sand, and
tadpoles.

What did you do with the tadpoles?

builds up that I was hoping to filter, out mainly mud and sand.

Is it real dusty around you, or has it been a long time since the last
clean out? ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us


I forgot to mention that in the spring, we get lots and lots of pollen
since we have 11 acres of woods. The yellow pollen leaves a ring where
the water level is at the time.

Sheila

Clearing algae and silt loaded water
 

The tadpoles were fished out and put in a neighbor real pond that is a
couple acres in area.

We get a lot of dust when we mow the lawn, and it hasn't been cleaned for
2 years. I broke my arm last summer and was not able to cope with
cleaning it.

Sheila


Wow, where do you live and how short do you cut your lawn? Of course DH
wears a lawn mask when he mows and be the end of the season I throw it out
(he would just continue wearing it in its blackened state). Still I have a
hard time imagining that kind of dust being kicked up from mowing a lawn and
I grew up in the southwest.

Clearing algae and silt loaded water
 

On Sat, 16 Aug 2008 09:50:14 EDT, "D Kat"
wrote:


The tadpoles were fished out and put in a neighbor real pond that is a
couple acres in area.

We get a lot of dust when we mow the lawn, and it hasn't been cleaned for
2 years. I broke my arm last summer and was not able to cope with
cleaning it.

Sheila


Wow, where do you live and how short do you cut your lawn? Of course DH
wears a lawn mask when he mows and be the end of the season I throw it out
(he would just continue wearing it in its blackened state). Still I have a
hard time imagining that kind of dust being kicked up from mowing a lawn and
I grew up in the southwest.

Don't have a lawn, then you won't have to mow it, among other things.
Virtually every covenant or neighborhood agreement can be gotten
around, so don't even consider whining about that. If we didn't have
lawns, we wouldn't waste thousands of gallons of water to sprinkle on
them, we wouldn't waste oodles of gallons of gas cutting them, not to
mention what the exhaust and dust does to our atmosphere (lungs). How
many millions of dollars are spent on lawn mowers, fertilizers, etc.?
How many times have you heard at a funeral that so-and-so was a rotten
individual, but he/she kept a nice lawn, or the converse, that
so-and-so was terrific in so many ways, but they sure kept a crappy
lawn? Often people ask, what can we do as individuals? Not having
lawns is a pretty good start.

Clearing algae and silt loaded water
 

Yeah, but....
Boy, does it sure wreak havoc in your basic
suburban neighborhood.

The weed seed from the dead lawn across the
street from us is a menace. One fellow is trying
to sell his house and it sure doesn't help to have
this dead lawn making the neighborhood look
tired and uncared for. The neighborhood is helping
out and I hope we can rescue it.

Changing planting to xeriscaping is an idea. There are
lots of good ideas out there. You don't have to have a
lawn but you should not create a problem.

Now country living - anything goes!!

k :-)

Clearing algae and silt loaded water
 

On Sat, 16 Aug 2008 12:56:37 EDT, kathy wrote:

Yeah, but....
Boy, does it sure wreak havoc in your basic
suburban neighborhood.

The weed seed from the dead lawn across the
street from us is a menace. One fellow is trying
to sell his house and it sure doesn't help to have
this dead lawn making the neighborhood look
tired and uncared for. The neighborhood is helping
out and I hope we can rescue it.

That's kind of a false dichotomy. It just isn't true that the only
two choices are a well-tended lawn and a seedy, weed infested, dying
lawn. There are oodles of things you can do.

Changing planting to xeriscaping is an idea. There are
lots of good ideas out there. You don't have to have a
lawn but you should not create a problem.

Now country living - anything goes!!

True.

Clearing algae and silt loaded water
 

D Kat wrote:
The tadpoles were fished out and put in a neighbor real pond that is a
couple acres in area.

We get a lot of dust when we mow the lawn, and it hasn't been cleaned for
2 years. I broke my arm last summer and was not able to cope with
cleaning it.

Sheila


Wow, where do you live and how short do you cut your lawn? Of course DH
wears a lawn mask when he mows and be the end of the season I throw it out
(he would just continue wearing it in its blackened state). Still I have a
hard time imagining that kind of dust being kicked up from mowing a lawn and
I grew up in the southwest.



We live in Georgia and have some large areas that have not been seeded
yet and there are weeds and bare ground. This is where a future garden
and arbor will go, it's a large area so we kick up a lot of dust. We
have to wear masks too. Hopefully we get it finished up some time this
fall.

Sheila

Clearing algae and silt loaded water
 

Galen Hekhuis wrote:
Often people ask, what can we do as individuals? Not having
lawns is a pretty good start.

How about a 20' X 20' patch for the dog to wheedle on? When I do cut
it, it is with an elecric mower.

BTW, most of the ground cover in the AZ desert is now rock. Some damn
people from back East (read: Chicago and the Midwest)still insist on
trying to grow grass in the middle of a desert. Phooey! Some brave
neighbors even sowed desert wildflowers in their dirt front yard. Looks
great for about 2wks a year, but kinda weedy the rest of the time. But
the HOA hasn't stopped them.

Chip

Clearing algae and silt loaded water
 

On Sat, 16 Aug 2008 13:49:59 EDT, Galen Hekhuis
wrote:

That's kind of a false dichotomy. It just isn't true that the only
two choices are a well-tended lawn and a seedy, weed infested, dying
lawn. There are oodles of things you can do.

A lot depends, imo, what part of the country you live in, county, urban or
suburban, etc.

Now country living - anything goes!!

True.

Hmmmm, I disagree. I believe even locally, if you have anything but native
vegetation you still have to clip it short so it isn't a fire hazard. In
the spring, locally, our weeds and cheet grass grow quite well and tall in
disturbed areas, thus the need to clip eventually. Granted only 1 or 2
clippings versus weekly.

Way I see it is this, we're all sinners against nature for the resources we
use. Some would see only living as a 3rd world country as acceptable....
(while they drive around in their Hummers spreading the word. ;-) LOL!
Okay, I made that up.

I mow my lawn, something that has and is growing smaller and smaller,
between ponds and flower beds each year. Some want to say that my ponds
aren't water or power conscious. I want to say, hey... your diesel truck,
horse trailers, RV's, 4 wheelers, etc. aren't either. Basically fill in the
sins one doesn't do in comparison to the sins you do, be it mowing, Sunday
driving, running under the sprinkler to cool off, running you dryer. etc.
etc. We'll all be guilty of SOME modern luxury that someone else thinks
isn't prudent. It all evens out. Some people live in apartments and travel.
Then there are people like my family, homebodies, we garden. Bet I use less
gas in my mower all summer than one flight across country. ;-)

Btw, I just have to add this. I use a mulching mower, and have found I only
have to fertilize once in the spring with crab grass control and then I put
a winterizer on. My grass looks pretty darn good and though a little long,
I can by with only 1/week mowing. So if you're using a service who will
sometimes put down fertilizer up to 6 times a season, and you're mowing a
LOT, you might want to rethink paying for so much love. ;-) ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

Clearing algae and silt loaded water
 

I do know one real life country dweller,
my SIL and DH live on a farm.
They are surrounded by fields, wheat and lentils, they have two big
yards, all green, a huge vegetable garden, long
beds of perennials and annuals, a decorative garden
pond (she got the bug from moi) and a *real* pond
that has cattails and wild geese and a little dock
and boat. Chickens, cows, pigs and lots of big
farm machinery. Great place and have always
been blessed that my children knew what farming
is from the ground up.

k :-)

Clearing algae and silt loaded water
 

Absolutely agree except we don't water or put chemicals on our lawn (well DH
puts anti crabgrass on it but that isn't really a harmful chemical). Still
every year I manage to get inch by inch put into shrubs, trees, flowers,
etc.
Donna

"Galen Hekhuis" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 16 Aug 2008 09:50:14 EDT, "D Kat"
wrote:


The tadpoles were fished out and put in a neighbor real pond that is a
couple acres in area.

We get a lot of dust when we mow the lawn, and it hasn't been cleaned
for
2 years. I broke my arm last summer and was not able to cope with
cleaning it.

Sheila


Wow, where do you live and how short do you cut your lawn? Of course DH
wears a lawn mask when he mows and be the end of the season I throw it out
(he would just continue wearing it in its blackened state). Still I have
a
hard time imagining that kind of dust being kicked up from mowing a lawn
and
I grew up in the southwest.

Don't have a lawn, then you won't have to mow it, among other things.
Virtually every covenant or neighborhood agreement can be gotten
around, so don't even consider whining about that. If we didn't have
lawns, we wouldn't waste thousands of gallons of water to sprinkle on
them, we wouldn't waste oodles of gallons of gas cutting them, not to
mention what the exhaust and dust does to our atmosphere (lungs). How
many millions of dollars are spent on lawn mowers, fertilizers, etc.?
How many times have you heard at a funeral that so-and-so was a rotten
individual, but he/she kept a nice lawn, or the converse, that
so-and-so was terrific in so many ways, but they sure kept a crappy
lawn? Often people ask, what can we do as individuals? Not having
lawns is a pretty good start.

Clearing algae and silt loaded water
 

To me nothing is worse than a 'lawn' gone bad. Meadows, prairies, natural
grasslands are wonderful and filled with life -- Astro-turf or the lawns
made to look like it, not so much. There really is no reason a suburban
'yard' cannot be an environmentally friendly landscape. A well establish
garden that is appropriate for the local climate is almost care free. A cut
grass lawn takes a huge amount of resource in time and chemicals to look
good and it is almost a sterile habitat. I can understand wanting to have a
play area for children but it would be so much better if every
block/neighborhood had a common 'lawn/playground' and houses created
wildlife friendly gardens.

I live in the suburbs of NY long island where many of the houses (very
costly ones at that) have rather dull large expanses of lawn and foundation
plantings that are clipped into ugly cubes. When we first moved here, the
area I liked most had little if any lawns but had many trees and a great
many hostas, mountain laurel, rhodies and azaleas. We could not find a
place there which we could afford and ended up in one of the development
tracks of houses built on flat farmlands. The soil was dead because the
builders had dumped the dirt dug out for the basement on top of the topsoil
and the lawn had done nothing to increase the topsoil over 30 years. For
the last 17 years I have been planting trees and shade gardens and slowly
but surely eliminating lawn. In the fall I gather up the leaves (mine and
the neighbors) and put them everywhere I can. My yard is filled with birds,
dragonflies, butterflies, assorted wild mammals, lots and lots of worms,
etc. None of those things were here when we first moved in. I live in an
area with large areas of sea water but fresh water is needed for the local
wildlife and my ponds work well for that. In the Midwest many farmers put
in ponds and it greatly improved the survival chances of migrating water
birds. Personally I think most people should lived in cities (and our
cities were designed to be people and animal friendly) and more land was set
aside for natural environments. I do not have high expectations but who
knows. Every new generation moves us forward a tad.

Donna

"kathy" wrote in message
...
Yeah, but....
Boy, does it sure wreak havoc in your basic
suburban neighborhood.

The weed seed from the dead lawn across the
street from us is a menace. One fellow is trying
to sell his house and it sure doesn't help to have
this dead lawn making the neighborhood look
tired and uncared for. The neighborhood is helping
out and I hope we can rescue it.

Changing planting to xeriscaping is an idea. There are
lots of good ideas out there. You don't have to have a
lawn but you should not create a problem.

Now country living - anything goes!!

k :-)

Clearing algae and silt loaded water
 

You know, woods are the native plant result for much of the country.

We have 34 acres in Raymond, MS. It was pasture before the former
owner began to be sick. He stopped cutting it. Grasses gave way
quickly to shrubs and soon to trees. Now, the trees are shading out
the shrubs. The portions I do not cut with a bush hog are becoming
semi-open woods. No mow, no lawn. If we mow, it would be nice to
have a low cover that does not need watering...maybe that should rise
up on the horticulturalist list of plants to develop. Actually, I
know they are trying to develop green grasses that require little
water.

Jim

Clearing algae and silt loaded water
 

The first time I came east to Connecticut for a visit with my brother at the
age of 16 I was overwhelmed by the trees. Growing up in the arid southwest
I had never seen the like before. As you drove up on the top of a hill,
looking through the cut of the road you could see to the horizon nothing but
green and all of it dozens of feet high. When I moved back east and ended
up in Connecticut I was very surprised to learn that the trees covering the
state were for the most part only 25 years old. That they had grown in when
farmers stopped farming. Humans cut down trees so that they can grow crops
or have fuel - much of the middle east was turned into desert simply form
the trees being cut down. Though I still find myself homesick for the
expanse of sky I think trees are one of the most wonderful things of nature.
If nothing else, being the most lazy person on earth (other than Kathy) I
find gardening under trees far less work than having a sun garden....

Donna

"Phyllis and Jim" wrote in message
...
You know, woods are the native plant result for much of the country.

We have 34 acres in Raymond, MS. It was pasture before the former
owner began to be sick. He stopped cutting it. Grasses gave way
quickly to shrubs and soon to trees. Now, the trees are shading out
the shrubs. The portions I do not cut with a bush hog are becoming
semi-open woods. No mow, no lawn. If we mow, it would be nice to
have a low cover that does not need watering...maybe that should rise
up on the horticulturalist list of plants to develop. Actually, I
know they are trying to develop green grasses that require little
water.

Jim

Clearing algae and silt loaded water
 

On Wed, 20 Aug 2008 09:10:59 EDT, Phyllis and Jim
wrote:

You know, woods are the native plant result for much of the country.

We have 34 acres in Raymond, MS. It was pasture before the former
owner began to be sick. He stopped cutting it. Grasses gave way
quickly to shrubs and soon to trees. Now, the trees are shading out
the shrubs. The portions I do not cut with a bush hog are becoming
semi-open woods. No mow, no lawn. If we mow, it would be nice to
have a low cover that does not need watering...maybe that should rise
up on the horticulturalist list of plants to develop. Actually, I
know they are trying to develop green grasses that require little
water.

Jim

Bahaia grass comes to mind. Not quite as much fun as kudzu and it was
developed as a drought resistant grass. I believe the original intent
was for highway shoulders and cattle feed. It is a pita in a lawn,
since the seed shoots sprout about a foot high three days after
mowing. I sort of think of it as bulldog tough and just as ugly.
--
Hal Middle Georgia, Zone 8
http://tinyurl.com/2fxzcb

Clearing algae and silt loaded water
 

We have lots ot it in our yard. Green...and growing.

Jim