Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Muddy water Advice on managing a pond in a flood plane

Look for a Helena Chemical dealer that deals with Aquatics. Try the Helena Chemical dealer that supplies herbicides for farmers and they might be able to direct you to which division has the aluminum sulfate. You may need to buffer it with hydrated lime - it all depends on the pH and how much you need to use. You will need a tote to mix it in with water, and 2 pumps. One to pump water into the tote, another to pump water out to spray in the pond. You will need 2 people. One to keep adding material to the tote, another to spray it in the pond. Wear the proper PPE. It will seem daunting at first, but the more times you do it, the easier it becomes. Rinse the equipment thoroughly when done. Pumps can be purchased from Harbor Freight and make sure to buy the extended warranty, you will be using it.

Work on the muskrats. Conibears or colony traps. The catfish/bullheads/carp/koi contribute to the turbidity problem. Maybe look into a modified fyke net? Sediment comes from the creek, but after a month or so it should settle out. Do a jar test to see if the sediment is staying suspended due to mechanical action (fish) or an electrical charge imbalance (which alum will fix).

With the flooding, you are at the mercy of Mother Nature. Dye and figuring out what is causing the sediment to stay suspended will be the biggest bang for the buck. There is a few threads about alum and clay, I"d read them all and take notes.

Learn how to calculate how many acre feet of water you have in the pond. Measure the depth with a string and a weight. Don't guess. Measure the surface area of the pond. You will need both measurements to calculate Ac/Ft

When you do the jar test, if the water doesn't clear by it's own in a few days, then alum in the answer. Start with 300# per ac/ft of water and 150# of hydrated lime per ac/ft. Make sure you have a pH pocket pen, to take quick pH readings. You can adjust the pH of the pond during application by adjusting how much you add of each. That number I gave you is a rough baseline. .