Pond Boss Forums INTRO New Forum Member Introduction Iron Filtering Options

We just put in a 2 acre pond and began filling it with our new well. The water is extremely orange and I am concerned about the amount of iron not being able to settle before we get our fingerlings. Has anyone had a good experience with a homemade filteration system or purchased one that helped filter out the iron from the well before entering the pond? We built a riprap ditch for the water to run through first, but it doesn't appear to be helping much. Thank you in advance!

Have you tried shocking the well with bleach?

You can use a packed column to remove the iron also. Take 4-5 five gallon buckets. cut out the bottoms, put a screen in the bottom of each one. Fill the buckets with bio media and put the buckets one beneath the other so the water falls out of the bottom of one bucket into the top of the other. Run the well water into the top of the top bucket and let the water fall into a pit then flow out of the pit into the pond. You will have to shovel out pit once in a while because of the iron that precipitated out of the water stays into the pit.

I'll see if I can get a picture of a packed column like I am describing.

How many GPM are you pumping?

I've read some about using bleach, but was afraid it would negatively affect the fish. I'll look into it further.

I have seen picture of the column method you're describing. Thank you for explaining it in detail! I appreciate it greatly. I may try this also, since it seems like the easiest method to construct.

I asked our well driller about GPM, but haven't heard back yet. We think it puts out at least 100-120 GPM.

Thank you so much.

It is pumping 320 GPM. I was way off

If you use bleach, it is best to pump the contaminated water somewhere away from the pond (after he shock) before using the well water for the pond. However, I have heard that it is hard to get rid of iron bacteria in a well because sometimes it contaminates the aquifer.