I had a water main break just upstream from me, I don't know the exact amount of water into the pond (1 acre) but it was more than a little. Have lost all of the grass carp, have seen 5 or so larger Channel Cats floating, and a ton of gizzard shad, some blue gill, no LMB observed dead. I'll be the first to admit, I have not managed this pond correctly so the kill off doesn't bother me too much but what effects on other parts of the eco system such as turtles, frogs, Mallards, Geese etc? The water is a lime green color. This is a neighborhood pond.
The water main, was it carrying sewage? storm water (street water runoff?) or drinking water? I didn't follow the reason for the lime green color or if that came when the water ran from the water main over land into your pond?
The water main, was it carrying sewage? storm water (street water runoff?) or drinking water? I didn't follow the reason for the lime green color or if that came when the water ran from the water main over land into your pond?
It's drinking water. It turned green after the water came into the pond, I'm unsure of the reason either.
Chlorine is a bad thing for fish. The experts can give you a better explanation but sounds like whatever the drinking water was being treated with did not set will with the fish.
This is only a guess, but I would say the color turned the way it did because the initial water treatment killed off a bunch of the established algae and what you are seeing is a new bloom of some other variety of algae.
Chlorine is a bad thing for fish. The experts can give you a better explanation but sounds like whatever the drinking water was being treated with did not set will with the fish.
This is only a guess, but I would say the color turned the way it did because the initial water treatment killed off a bunch of the established algae and what you are seeing is a new bloom of some other variety of algae.
Yeah, I just saw a Frog on the bank (it's 20 Deg out) and appeared to be dying. Probably everything in the pond will be toast by spring
Be sure and document everything so that you can go back to the city and be reimbursed for your losses. Try and get them to pay for a rotenone treatment so that you can start from scratch if you want.
yea, take pictures etc...
the chlorine content in city water should not be high enough to cause critters to head for the shore? If I take chlorinated tap water and put fish/frogs in it they don't seem to be affected. Also, assuming the chlorine in the treated drinking water was consistent at the time of the break, when it hit your pond it had to be very much diluted by your untreated water.
I would have to say some other chemical event or later event (bloom?) had to be the culprit but what?
I guess you would have to see if something else mixed with what was in the water main as it was travelling to you, such as a toxic oil or something?
Canyon,
Down here in Texas our tap water will kill fish. I imagine it is different all over the country.
I filled goldfish tank with about 35% water change with tap water once thinking the dilution with the existing the water would be fine.............it killed them
I'm no longer on city water, but a town close to me that serves the surroundings areas lists its water quality reports yearly. This is info from their webpage. Perhaps it is an alkalinity or pH issue in the water? Our water is pumped from Lake Michigan and then treated to prepare for drinking.
pH 7.5, hardness is pretty consistent year by year at around 150, chlorine 'residuals' at around 1 ppm.
Full reports are on their web page here:
yearly water quality reports full list 2015 city of wyoming water report
Maybe the new water simply pushed already existing bad water from the pond bottom similar to what a heavy rain event would do. A "turnover" event.
Did the city water run on the surface enough so it was oxygenated? Maybe DO depleted?
The water ran about 100 feet through the grass before reaching the pond. Seems like a DO event this time of year would be unlikely? I do aerate the pond though they've been off for about a month now
If the amount of water was substantial, over 5% to 15% of your pond's volume, you could easily experience poisoning from city water purification additives, e.g. chlorine. There is also the possibility that the city water temperature was considerably different than your pond water temps causing temperature change shock (unlikely because city water is typically around 55 degrees F. and your pond water should be close to that this time of year)or even a sudden turn over in the pond. If the temperature difference was greater than, let's guess, 15 degrees or greater, a quick turnover could occur given enough city water got into the pond. Once again the amount of water would have to be large compared to the pond volume and/or drastically different in temp.
If the flow through the grass was slow enough, the chlorine could likely dissolve out reducing the amounts of toxins into the pond. I am betting you got a lot of city water into the pond and chlorine and temperatures are your likely culprits.
I am guessing that city water is also low in DO, or maybe high, if either is the case , and enough water got into the pond, a drastic change in oxygen levels could cause shock/stress on the pond's inhabitants
I am basing this on years of tropical fish aquarium care, not necessarily pond ownership, but the concept is the same and aquarist are always contending with city water and very concerned with temperatures when doing partial (15-30%) water changes.
wow, carp are pretty hardy, pretty tolerant of low DO, not sure about grass carp but it must have been some type of shock for them to die.
wow, carp are pretty hardy, pretty tolerant of low DO, not sure about grass carp but it must have been some type of shock for them to die.
These GC were quite big, guessing 30+ Lbs. I took them out to the dump and the guys were absolutely freaking out on the size. I haven't seen anything new washed up so either they sank or things have stabilized. Most of the dead were Gizzard Shad, as mentioned above, it's probably the temp shock that got them. Absolutely no LMB seen and I have a ton of them. I have a call in to Public Works, they should know apprx gallons so it will be interesting, I'll ask about Temp. I haven't checked but experience tells me, the pond water would be in the 40's.
Wonder if you should make a claim for damages. I don't think it unreasonable for the utility to pay for restocking your pond.