4-25RedLeg
Firstly he/she posted this. ""I’m curious by this (topic) as I have a VERY clear pond currently and will be drinking from it as well here in NE Ohio. I can easily see nearly 5’ deep.""
FYI there are pond management methods that can promote the pond to maintain clear water. IMO few pond management companies know enough about this topic to provide good techniques to or for maintaining clear pond water. One has to fully understand the whole aquatic ecosystem to "get it". IMO one of the MAIN tasks to maintain clear water is to focus on reducing nutrient inputs and nutrient content in the pond. Nutrients grow plankton and plankton density heavily influences water clarity along with suspended detritus. Reduce the nutrient content and this reduces plankton and detritus content / production. Numerous other eco-factors of clear water come into play for this concept of having clear water.
Okay by technical definition water transparency of 5 ft deep is not IMO a definition of VERY clear water. It is clear water but not very clear pond water. I help manage ponds where Secchi disk water clarity is easily 10 to 15ft. There are ecological methods that help promote clear water conditions. There are several municipal water reservoirs where I analyze algae in the water with Secchi clarities of 8-15 ft. This 10-15ft of water clarity I consider as very clear,,, and then there is ultra clear water as with Secchi disk readings of 30-60+ft as in many low nutrient natural lakes (oligotrophic) and as a famous example Lake Tahoe.
One does not need to use chlorine as most municipalities do to kill the bacteria. As I noted above, options are UV light, iodine, and hydrogen peroxide. Without proper routine monitoring chlorine as drinking water disinfectant can cause residual chemical concerns called Trihalomethanes.
However all bacteria in drinking water should be killed because just one of the wrong common bacteria can cause health issues. E.coli is very common and just one example. E.coli at some density as rare to common is present in almost all pond waters. E.coli bacteria comes from the manure of all warm blooded animals - birds to humans. E.coli strains are good ones and bad ones. IMO it is not worth the health risk of not killing all bacteria in drinking water by one way or another. Even if it is by boiling the water.
Another current national water born illness is the cyclosporiasis outbreak caused by cyclosprora that is a single cell protozoan and not a bacteria. It normally occurs in manure, often human manures.
IMO drinking pond water without proper treatment is a liability to all visitors to that water source.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 08/06/26 07:57 PM.
