Bought a house with water features....

[academiannut]

I bought a house 3.5 years ago with 2 water features, only one of which was functioning - a perhaps 1,000-1,500 gallon pond in the back with a center spout and waterfall approximately 6 feet tall. (Pond is about 8 ft? round and maybe 3 -4 ft deep)

I've kept that one going for a couple years, but the last pump I installed died VERY quickly (JeJoab?) and I haven't replaced it since.

I've looked ALL around the pond, but they seem to have just put a pump in the middle of the pond that circulates the water into the waterfall, with no skimmer or filtration. It looks like a very elaborate DIY project.

There are many plants growing over this pond, so it constantly fills with debris, leaves, etc. The maintenance is more than I want to deal with. It's hard to get to the pump to check it out or clean it out, and impossible to keep up with the skimming. It's constantly full of green muck. I love having the water feature, but I need it to be easier to deal with.

The shed was full of chlorine, which makes me think the prior owners kept it clean by keeping the water toxic. I don't want to keep fish or plants, but I'd like the water to not be toxic (and I'm in Maryland so there are constantly tadpoles and frogs trying to move in).

Also, my fence that surrounds the yard is falling down. I'd like to just remove it rather than replace it, but I"m worried about legal liability and safety issues. My understanding is that anything deeper than 18" legally needs a safety fence around it. So, I MAY replace my fence with a split rail with mesh, which would cover safety issues. But I'm also considering just filling in the bottom 2 feet of the pond with gravel - perhaps some waterboxes or grates to fill the bottom 2 feet, then covered with a few inches of gravel to raise the bed without having to dig anything up -

So that's one thing to think about - the other is whether anyone could recommend a good skimmer for retrofitting, preferably without cutting the liner, or a way to make the pump easier to access or keep clean? I've also been trying to find a way to add UV filtration, but cant' figure out which one to get or where it would go - and was wondering if a mineral filtration (like https://www.amazon.com/Spa-Frog-Mineral-Sanitizer-Filter/dp/B000O5Y46C) would be non toxic and/or help with maintenance at all.

I know these are a lot of issues. The TL;DR is:

1) Safety - would it be practical to fill the bottom two feet with water boxes and a thin layer of gravel to bring it up to legal safety standards for an unfenced permanent water feature? I am not trying to keep fish or plants, but would like frogs and birds, etc to be able to enjoy it -

2) Any recommendations on the maintenance nightmare? I'd like to be able to access the pump more easily (it's in the middle of the very slippery, deep-ish pond) for maintenance, cleaning, replacement if needed, and would LOVE some way to deal with the debris more efficiently -- but I'm not super handy so I'm hoping for solutions that aren't too hard to implement - The algae is a bit of a nightmare, too -

 

[qclabrat]

welcome,
I'm only familiar with fish ponds, so don't know if filters are needed
Does the pond have a liner? If not maybe line the bottom with a coarse of cinderblock then cover with pea gravel to

 

[academiannut]

It is lined - I can't see any reason not to just fill it with water block style blocks or grates on bricks, then cover with gravel.... to keep a lot of the water volume but meet safety requirements... but not sure how to implement it... I think filters are still needed, as there is so much algae, debris, and frogs trying to live in this pond (it's very hard for the frogs to get in and out due to steep slippery slides, so I think the more shallow surface would be good for them, too) so I was thinking of laying out PVC undergravel pipes.... but would those be connected to the same pump as the water fall pump? I think I should accept that I"m going to need to do more replumbing than I want to....

 

[j.w]

@academiannut