I have read ample material discussing the "Dead Zone" bottom water in ponds as being an unproductive aspect of ponds. I am currently excavating a 2.5 acre Farm Pond in Upstate NY for both game fish (LMB & Bluegill) and irrigation.
I planned on using a windmill driven bottom aerator to mitigate the effects of the low 02 bottom water but now wonder if this bottom "Dead Zone" might not include desirable nutrients that I can put to work for me.
All the negative comments about the bottom layer having ammonia, nitrates, feces, etc sounds like a source of fertile irrigation water to me. Near the pond I plan on growing Pumkins and Fall Raspberries for a 'Pick Your Own' operation. Perhaps if I created a deep 'sump' in the middle of the pond and placed the aerator mid-depth @ 6' it would cause the currents to sweep the feces, etc into the sump for collection. Frequent pumping from this sump for irrigation should help keep muck and the 'undesirable factors' at a minimum.
Does anyone have any experience taking advantage using bottom water for irrigation ? Would E.Coli from fish feces be present in the bottom "Dead Zone"?.

As I remember E.coli are not present in fish feces. Coliform bacteria as a group are present in feces of warm blooded animals and in soil. Fecal coliform bacteria of which includes Escherichia coli are present in feces from warm blooded animals and not fish or other cold blooded animals. I am not sure what type of bacteria are associated with their manure.

Water from the deepest layers of "dead zone" (hypolimnion or non mixing layer) will contain fertility for your plants however it may have odors associated with it. This water, if it contains sludge, will also be additonally fertile but it may pose problems in distributing it as sprays due to clogging of orfices or nozzles.

Bill,

Thanks for your reply. I was not aware that E.Choli was limited to warm blooded animals. I have a 2000 dwarf tree apple orchard and deer feces contaminating dropped apples for cider making is a great E. Choli concern.
The pond would be used to irrigate future patches of pumkins and raspberries. The dairy farmers around me all spread manure in their fields from the cows, but then again the crops there are not for human consumption. I read somewhere (cant find it now) that pond bottom sludge was not of benefit in gardening due to lacking nutrients and
the fact that the sludge is unstable (shrinks considerably when dried and then expands alot when wet). The lack of nutrient part simply didnt sound right to me considering that the levels of ammonia, nitrates etc all would benefit a 'non-root' type of crop.

There was a study at the International Goose Symposium in Madison WI a few years ago which found E.Coli in 2% of canadian goose droppings.I would think that other bird species would have similar amounts including seagulls, herons,...
Robert B

Haff - Most surface muck from a pond is primarily organic and rich in nutrients. When dredging gets down into the original pond basin soils then inorganic soils become a larger percentage of the bottom materials.

Robert B, thanks for your info on Goose droppings.
The ponds around me receive quite a few visitors of Canadian Geese on their migrations north and south. The geese are traveling heavily now which will also mean that they will be 'post havest season' for my orchard. If I had geese visitors during the growing and harvest times then I would be concerned about E. Coli