Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Renovating a Pond or Lake? creek water ran through pond ?

Hello,

I have a 1 acre pond that is very old and has quite a bit of sedimnet on the bottom. I would like to remove the sediment so my kids can swim in it without all the muck on the bottom. I looked into the bacteria stuff that eats the sediment but it looks like the verdict is still out on that stuff.
But, what about this product????? any first hand knowledge of this stuff? http://www.clean-flo.com/

I have a creek that runs no less than 400gpm that runs within 100 ft of the pond. SO, I ran a 5inch pipe from the creek to the backside of the pond and cleaned out the drains and, hopefully this will push some of the sediment out of the pond. Any thoughts? or any other opinoions on how to get rid of the sediment and what about aeration??? ( without renting a huge excavator) thanks.


BTW- the pond drains into this same creek a bit further down the stream.

Welcom to the forum, ktm rider.

Do not know anything about clean-flo.

If you can fill the pond at will from the creek, you might consider draining all the water and cleaning it out with equipment.

Thanks Otto, it is such a nice view from the house I would hate to tear it all up with equipment, But, it that is the only way, I guess i will have to consider it eventually.

A month or two of unsightliness will be worth the final outcome IMO...

Too many other projects on the list this summer to drain and clean. I was wondering if there were any alternatives???

none that I know of

Sediment will not really get flushed out of a pond by having the creek inflow into the pond.

Aeration could help with the muck removal if it is organic, but won't really help with the sediment if the sediment is just dirt.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

I think the same applies for microbes.

You're right Sunil...

It is organic Muck. The pond sits up against the woods and is usually covered with leaves in the fall. It is a VERY beautiful site from the house but no so nice for swimming when the muck is 2ft. deep.

OK so, I have been researching this alot more and it seems that I have two choices. One will guarantee to eliminate the muck in my pond but will cost a small fortune. Which, would be to drain and rent some large equipment and put up with a heack of a mess for a while.
OR,
I could roll the dice and give one of the bacteria products a try and hope for the best. SO, I emailed a company called Clean-Flo and this is the response I got just in case you guys are interested in the same thing....




Hello,

I have a 50+ yr. old pond that is crystal clear. I can see the bottom. But,
over the years the pond has accumulated alot of sediment on the bottom. I
would like to eliminate this sediment so my kids can swim in it.



I have researched products such as Clean-Flo and it seems as if the verdict
is still out on the effectiveness of these products. I guess what I am
saying is this, Convince me that Clean - Flo will work on my pond problem..




Hi Shawn,

Thanks for your inquiry. We would recommend our C-FLO and CLEAN & CLEAR
Enzymes together for muck reduction. The products work as long as there is
plenty of oxygen in the water. You can read about the importance of oxygen
here <http://www.clean-flo.com/importance_of_oxygen.html>
http://www.clean-flo.com/importance_of_oxygen.html and about the products
here <http://www.clean-flo.com/muck_removal.html>
http://www.clean-flo.com/muck_removal.html. Typically where muck is
present, oxygen levels will deplete at times. Once this occurs, naturally
occurring aerobic bacteria are killed. Without oxygen the bottom then goes
anaerobic so the decay cycle slows down 30-40 times. This leads to the
build-up of muck that you are experiencing. (By the way muck is no different
than a compost pile in your yard. If you turn the compost pile frequently
to allow oxygen to get in, you end up with nice compost in a short period
because naturally occurring bacteria help break it down. If you don't turn
it, you end up with a pile of material that takes a long time to break
down.)

One of the reasons why you'll find mixed results using bacteria is that a
lot of companies only sell products, so they won't talk about the
limitations. If you use aerobic bacteria and don't have enough oxygen you
will not get results.

Because you already have muck, you may want to consider one of our inversion
systems to increase the oxygen content and allow the bacteria and enzymes to
feed aggressively on the muck. You can read more about our system, process
and restoration approach at these links.

<http://www.clean-flo.com/water-restoration.html>
http://www.clean-flo.com/water-restoration.html

<http://www.clean-flo.com/process.html>
http://www.clean-flo.com/process.html

<http://www.clean-flo.com/pond_restoration.html>
http://www.clean-flo.com/pond_restoration.html

If you are interested in what it would cost, you can complete the
questionnaire here

<http://www.clean-flo.com/pond_proposal.htm>
http://www.clean-flo.com/pond_proposal.htm

You will receive an email asking you to send us a sketch with a depth
profile and other information. Once we receive it we can prepare a proposal
for you pond.

If you don't want to consider aeration and just want to try the products
first, I would suggest that instead of one application that you do multiple
smaller applications about every two weeks. This way if oxygen levels drop,
you may lose some of the bacteria but not all of it.

Thanks for your interest in CLEAN-FLO. We are here to help solve your
problem so feel free to call us at 800-328-6656 with any questions.

Thanks,

Brian Kling, PE
CLEAN-FLO International

The cleaning out of the muck is at the very least a mess.

Let us know the cost if you decide to go that way and the results.

Looks expensive but???

I believe the general vote is that aeration does remove organic sediment/muck and adding of microbes to help with the process.

It sounds like you got a honest answer from these folks.

Aeration does help the fish also, if done correctly.

scoop some sediment out and make sure it is organic. All the aeration and bacteria wont decompose silt. Maybe I am stating the obvious, but unless you have or have had trees which shed leaves, you may not have organic muck.

KTM, this could be a good experiment and potential Pond Boss article if you decide to go the aeration/bacteria product route. It would be very interesting to see what your results are. Perhaps a measurement in various areas of the pond before any intervention and after preferably measured in the same spots. Perhaps contact Bob Lusk via email and ask what type of info he would like to see in such an article. Pond Boss is always looking for articles from readers. Just a thought.

Oh and as an also and besides, when I was in my teens (in the 70s) I use to race a DKW 125 (sort of a predecessor to the KTM).

Actually Burgermeister I'm glad you mentioned that I was wondering if these products or aeration or the combination of both would have any effect on silt. What is obvious to some is not obvious to others (well okay, not to me anyway).

Breaking down organics is basically digestion by microorganisms.

Think of eating a handful of cornmeal and a handful of sand. You can digest the organics (cornmeal), but you won't affect the inorganic "silt" (sand) at all (although it will probably affect you).

Well, I got a price quote from Clean - Flo and the price was/is pretty steep. I wish I wouldn't have deleted the quote so I could have just pasted it up here but, The jist is that it would have cost around $2,500 to do my one acre, 8ft deep pond. A bit too much for me...