Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Water chemistry city water in pond...

my pond is a little over 1/2 acre and we dont seem to be getting any rain. Other than cost would it be bad to put water from the hose in the pond to keep level? My pond is a bout half full and we get rain and it goes up about a foot and then no rain for another 3 or 4 weeks and the water level goes down. I cant get enough rain to get past the half full mark. I have a few coppenose and some fhm in there now and Im thinking about the hose pipe to get it up a couple of more feet but not sure whats in city water.

TZ

I am not a chemical expert, but I do know something about municipal water systems. The water will be treated with something like chlorine. The concentration of it depends on the purity and policies of your water utility. How it will effect your fish will depend on the total water volume you have in the pond and the concentration in the water. It is possible it will not affect them because with exposure to air “some” of the chemicals dissipate or become harmless. I would not want to go that route if it were my pond. Before you do down that road here are some figures to think about.

If the banks of your lake were vertical it would take 21,780 cubic feet of water to raise a ½ acre pond 1 foot. That would be 162,941 gallons. A quick check of your water bill will tell you exactly how much that will cost.

Here in Wisconsin the ground water table is never very far down. We sink something called a sand point and attach an inexpensive shallow well pump to it. It is not difficult to do your self. It is very common to see them next to gardens or behind the house of a really green yard. The cost of electricity to pump that amount of water is much less purchasing from your water utility. Do the math and you may come out ahead and not have to test how much your fish like city water.

Be sure to check with state and local codes. Some require registrations.

I well point in a magazine and thought about that, when they dug my pond they stopped at about 9' deep because at 11 or 12 feet they hit sand and the hole started filling with water at about 15'. I may try and drive a well point to 15'and use a small pump. thanks

TZ

Does your pond have a liner? Does it get its water from runoff or from ground water? If it is from ground water you may have a different problem. If the pond is filled by ground water, the level of your pond will be basically the same as the ground water table. Driving a well point and seeing where the ground water table is will tell you. If that is the case no amount of adding water will raise the level in the pond. It will only equalize with the ground water table. It will kind of create a circle drawing ground water and putting it back into the ground via the lake.

If your lake has a liner or clay bottom and your water comes from run off, you will be in good shape with that plan. You will want to drive the well point much deeper than the top of the water table. Other wise it will suck it dry. Don’t forget to use compression couplers between the sections of pipes.

City water contains chloramines, which is the byproduct of chlorine reacting with organic matter. It will not degrade like regular chlorine, and must be neutralized chemically.