Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Muddy water Recreational Swim Pond - Murky water and sludge

Hi all,

I am new here and could use some advice. We just had a 50,000 gallon recreational swim pond built, with biofilter and rubber liner. Since materials are all on backorder, we have not had our hardscape installed yet and there is a lot of dirt surrounding the pond. So when we had a big rain recently, there was a lot of runoff that caused algae. I treated it and it all cleared up. The pond became crystal clear. We since had another big rain and the same thing happened. This time was a bit different though. We did not get all the algae floating on the water surface. The result was just murky water. There is definitely a lot of dirt that has settled on the pond bottom because the rocks are brown and starting to get a little slimy. The water is also murky. I can no longer see the pond shelves and the rocks that used to be visible are no longer.

I have tried adding beneficial bacteria, I have used algaecides, and recently used some barley extract. Not much success at all. I would greatly appreciate some advice on how to get my pond back to chow it was a few weeks ago.

all the best,
Joe

If it were my pond with your goals, I would very seriously consider draining the pond and some how removing all the washed in dirt. 50K gallons of water is not a lot of water to be replaced considering how much benefit clean out and refill will provide. Do not refill until you can get dirt water shed runoff areas well vegetated. Rain events should not be able to wash silt/mud into the pond. Silt and mud accumulations in a liner pond produces long term disadvantages. Washed in sediment and associated nutrients will be the source of long term agents of water quality concerns for the swim pond. For a clear water swim pond you want as few nutrients and silt present as possible.

Thanks for your reply. I will do that as a final resort. I know it is probably the best solution and might inevitably need to be done. But I want to try a few things first to see if I can rectify the problem.

all the best,
Joe