I hope this isn't too off-topic, or a hijack. But, it involves a pond that I believe is probably similar to Cecil's ponds.
This pond was built a year ago. It collected a lot of leaves last fall, that seem to have collected around the edges. A lot of algae is now growing in the semi-suspended leaves. It is a 1/4 acre pond, with near-constant flow-through about 10 months per year. It was designed to be drained with a siphon or semi-trash pump. It has steep sides and a wide flat bottom designed to be be seined.
I'm far from ready to drain and seine it. It needs another year.
I'm thinking about putting my 2-inch semi-trash pump on a trailer, and going around the edge of this pond sucking up leaves and algae. Kind of like the truck that sucks the sludge out of my septic tank, but on a somewhat smaller scale. I'd remove the filter on the intake hose.
I guess the real questions is, how bad are leaves and algae for a semi-trash pump?
