Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Muddy water Muddy water in north texas.

I have a newly expanded pond in north texas that will be about .75 acres when full. It is about 2/3's full right now. It has been muddy since I bought it a year ago. It has never been stocked and has no fish to speak of and good grass so erosion is not a problem. I want to get it cleared up asap so I can start stocking. I had a water test done before the expansion took place and ph was 7.6. I want to try alum now but cant seem to find it in dfw area. I have seen a lot of articles on alum and gypsum but nothing really on how to apply it. I know a alum solution is best but what do you use to spray it with. Does anyone know where to buy alum? thanks

Here is a good link for application rates:

http://agfacts.tamu.edu/D11/Calhoun/Mar/Recfish/Pondmgt/mudpond.htm

I found a place local to me that sells it by looking in the yellow pages under 'chemicals'. Was about $25 for 50 pounds.

After putting in several hundred pounds by boat and 5 gallon bucket (very painful and time consuming) I went searching for an easier way. Don't recall the exact post but I believe I found the method here. I used a 3'' trash pump and reduced the output to 1.5 inches. Take the inlet and set it in a bucket or other container that has plenty of holes in the sides....to keep it from sucking up the mud. Turn the pump on and add the alum to the bucket which mixes it for you. I went pretty slow and added about a cup full every 10 seconds or so. I did this on both ends of the pond. Seems to work pretty good and is much easier. My pump would shoot a steam about 30ft so I got pretty good coverage.

The best way to feed any dry powder into a liquid stream is by using a powder eductor. they are relatively cheap, and can even be home made if needed. Using a trash pump or other high volume, moderate pressure pump, and tying a powder eductor to the discharge side of the pump, makes an excellent way to spread alum or ferric powders. If this doesn't work for you, you can go the way I did and just get buckets and slowly add powder to prop wash of the boat as I traversed the lake. Try the link below for eductor information.
http://www.vortexventures.com/Products/DryBulkEductor/DryBulkPowderEductor.htm

You should be able to find alum at any industrial chemical dealer. It comes in 50 lb. bags, 40 to a pallet. Around $0.25 / lb. in that quantity.

I am cheap. I got a round bale of "ruined hay" for free. Rolled it out under the anticipated normal level of the pool. When it next filled, the stray got a coating of silt, and the pool cleared up.

A nursery can get alum for you in 50# bags.

No need to worry about spreading alum. It dissolves in minutes, and will chemically diffuse throughout your pond in an hour. If you have no fish, just dump it anywhere in the pond and watch it disappear. Gypsum dissolves a bit slower, and needs a bit of spreading. Still, nothing special is needed as it dissolves in 12-24h, and diffuses chemically.