hi, new to the forum, i have a 6 year old pond, its built on a spring (part of my back yard is wetland) when we dug the pond, it naturally filled with water and is always full.

over the years, the waters gotten worse in quality, there is a fair amount of algae growing and a lot of surface growth in spots...

the pond is about 6' deep and about 80*80'

I was thinking of adding aeration, theres no power by the pond and i thought id do a windmill aeration system. I just saw koenders windmill systems mentioned here, but had spoken to superior windmills about a system... was quoted 900$ for a 20'windmill and aeration system http://www.superiorwindmill.com/products/jetstream.html

has anyone had any experience with these systems?

thanks


ps. when i dug the pond
(link to progress) http://www.apartofme.com/Pond_project.htm

i added 12 smallmouth bass to it... then some minnows to feed the bass.. i fished out the bass and eventually added trout(stocked)


i do not think anything survived, except a lot of minnows... im assuming thats whats polluting my pond?

as i mentioned, water level is not a problem it always stays full... i thought maybe some aeration could help clean it up?

suggestions welcome...

Welcome to the forum, John.

Aeration may help clean up your pond, depending on the exact causes of the problems. What kind of watershed feeds the pond (any ag runoff)? Is there a lot of organic debris (leaves, etc.) entering the pond each year?

We have both Koenders and Superior owners here, IIRC. I have a Koenders that is going on 6 years old this year. From what I have heard, the Superior is supposed to be a good windmill system. $900 sounds like a good price.

Check out the archive thread Aeration Simplified. It has a lot of info on aeration - the benefits, methods, regimens, windmill vs. electric. Have you seen Idaho-Ponds Wind Mill Aeration thread? He just finished assembling and installing a system pretty similar to what you are looking at.

One other note. Power does not have to be right at the pond to use electric aeration. One can situate an electric compressor a fair distance (1/4 mile or maybe even farther) from a pond and then pipe the compressed air to the water in plastic pipe, 1" or so in diameter.

Simple John,

I recently purchased, built and installed a Superior 24' windmill on my pond (There is a thread on this site http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=116704#Post116704 if you have not already seen it)

I went with the mill because like you, I currently do not have power at the pond. I also liked the idea of a windmill. I looked into about 5 different manufacturers and chose the Superior for a few reasons. I believe that the Koenders and Superior mills are very similar. I was told that both companies are owned by the same owners.

I can't talk from experience since my mill has been up for all of two days, but from what I have read, your pond could really benefit from a windmill. Your pond is much smaller than mine so a mill could probably have a much larger impact in your case. I would recommend that you continue to read all of the information available and and then decide what is best for you.

$900 for a 20' mill? I spent $2300 for my 24' system... Does the price you were quoted include the air lines, weighted hose, diffusers, pump??? Even then $900 sounds to low... Either I WAY over paid or your quote does not include everything. I talked to a guy named Terry from New York - is that who you are talking to?

there is no actual run off into the pond, but it has a fair amount of trees around it and lawn cuttings ect. i dont fertilize near it but being near wet land, i cant guarantee what makes its way into it

thanks...

ps. i dont think i spoke to terry, the person i spoke to had a leftover last years model that was 900$ regular price was 1250 i dont know if its available still it was a few weeks ago...

i was thinking windmill out of 'cheapness' too. i did not want to have to pay for running a pump...

thanks