Timelapse of my new pond getting dyed...

[erkme73]

I admit Im not a fan of fake-looking dyed ponds. But after waiting over a month for the clay silt to settle and get naturally clear, blueish water, I gave in and added some temporary dye. It's far from ideal, but it's better than the muddy puddle look it's had this long.

FWIW, I did try some flocculant, which did work reasonably well. But after the first major rain, the runoff from the still-bare clay berms took it right back to the muddy look.

 

[CCTVCam]

There doesn't appear to be a and without a liner any fish are going to stir up the mud regularly as may waterfalls or other moving water. Might be worth consulting a pond professional / forum on the best way to form the pond before you get too far ahead with it. I'm assuming this is a garden pond and not a fishing pond.

I only have a small pond with flat sides and mines lined with HDPE which is one of the best liners for long life. I rather think many a professional would oversize the liner or otherwise line the bank surrounding the pond and then cover it with stones / pebbles etc for protection using the liner to prevent muddy run off. However, I'm no pro and neverbuilt with steep sides so consulting a professional is the way to go. You're also going to need a filtration system if you haven't specc'ed one.

 

[Jessie.slimer]

You dug this pond? How deep? I want to make one also.

 

[Arjun]

And that is how Blue Man was created

 

[Old Timer]

You can put dry wall in the pond to clear things up a little, and also keeps the bottom tight, so it does not leak all of the water.
When I built our house, I tossed all of the scrap pieces in my neighbors pond. It worked great.

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[TonyR]

Man, after watching that I gotta go pee like a champion race horse!

 

[CCTVCam]

Ought to try my back garden Tony. Waterfall day and night.....

 

[sebastiantombs]

It would have been nicer if you tie dyed it Much more PC nowadays

 

[Arjun]

I told my doctor "blue pee" came out of my body. His reply was, "You've been having way too much Kool Aid, eh"

 

[erkme73]

Well, the pond is nothing more than a fire-prevention plan. It's about 75 x 50', with a depth of about 4'. Pretty small by most standards, but it hold an estimated 50-80k gallons of water. I live in an extremely rural area (nearest volunteer fire department is almost an hour away), and my well-pump driven water source is anemic at 10GPM for a max of about 300 gallons before it runs dry.

I had a local dozer guy dig the pond, using the qualified clay soil - so no liner. There is some dampness on the exterior of the far berm, but water level doesn't drop more than about 1/2" per week (presumably due to do evaporation).

I didn't consider a liner since the confidence on the clay was high. However, I didn't realize that the silt simply doesn't settle over time. As stated, I tried some flocculant - which did work for about 3-4 days - until we had some rain and the run-off collected more clay sediment and returned the water back to the cloudy, muddy look.

Until I can get the edges of the pond erosion proofed (i.e. vegetation, liner with rocks, etc), I think I'm fighting a losing battle.

Wife wants to add koi and other decorative fish, but I don't see much point given the lack of clarity.

The drywall addition peaks my interest. Does that affect the pH of the water, or otherwise put aquatic life at risk?

I've added a crap-ton of river rocks along some of the edge (before thinking about putting a liner beneath it - so if I go that route, I'll have to move every frigging one of them), which I think really increases the esthetics but not the cloudiness. We've also added 4 aerators and some aquatic floating plants - in hopes that this would somehow improve the biology of the pond and help clear it up.

Incidentally, the pond coloring is just dye - specific to ponds. It's not copper-based. It actually has a pretty short life - about 3-6 months depending on sun intensity. I figured if it's too Vegas/Liberachi-ish, it's a self-limiting problem.

 

[CCTVCam]

Natural ponds will settle over time. However, everytime it rains you risk the water clouding again. Also, Koi and other fish will burrow into the silt looking for food or eating plant roots and may stir the silt.

If you want an ornamental pond, my best advice would be start again. Remove the rock and install a HDPE liner. Beware cheap liners as the cheaper you go the shorter the lifespan and the thinner and less tough the liner as a rule. HDPE seems to be the top standard, although I bought mine 30 years ago, so times could have changed.

If you're going ornamental you also want a water filter, pump and UV unit. Keeping fish is expensive. However, it may also benefit your fire requirements as the clean water is less likey to cause issues with your pump or spray nozzles.

You can see how the pro's do it here, although bear in mind Shak Oneil has paid for a very expensive and elaborate pond. My main point is it illustrates the liner and how they've used it under the surrounding rocks etc. Personally, I've never put any gravel or anything on the bottom of my pond, always kept itbare liner. It's easier to remove debris that way. With gravel, you going to constantly suck up / scoop out gravel if you vaccum or net debris.

Another alterntaive to a pond would be a swimming pool. Another expensive endeavour but at least it should icnrease the value of your house and it removes all of the issues surrounding ponds