Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Water chemistry Winter clear water Summer cloudy....why?

face72 - lets get some more background info about your small 0.1 acre clay bottomed pond.

You stated - "Yeah theres no fish in these ponds." Ponds? Now there are more than one pond?. Is this topic a joke and a test for us?

I think we can figure out the main problem. New clay bottom ponds after several years develop an organic layer across the bottom that typically isolates the clay basin from the water column. The organic layer allows the overlying column water to remain clear if the sediments are not disturbed in some way.
1. Is there a water shed for this pond? Or is just direct falling rain water the only way this pond receives water?. Lets eliminate water shed as a causative agent.
2. Have you performed the jar settling test during the summer when water is the cloudiest? I think we can eliminate electrically charged clay particles because the water does clear up during winter.
3. I have the ability to microscopically examine the particles that are causing the cloudiness. I suggest that you email me and make arrangements to get an analysis of the water. Let's do an analysis now when the water is relatively clear and one when the water is cloudy - then compare the two results. This will tell us what components and their percentages that are actually causing cloudiness.

In addition to my post above, a pond without fish can develop high numbers of crayfish which when abundant can cause very cloudy water. Your cloudiness is either caused by biological growths or some sort of sediment stirring activity such as wind currents, animal activity, or watershed, sediment laden runoff which is then exacerbated once it is within the pond basin. I strongly suspect that, you have unbeknownst to you, some critter mucking up the sediments during warmer weather.