Newbie from Salt Lake City - Inherited Pond

[Greenthirteen]

Hey everyone! My boyfriend and I just moved into a house that has been empty for almost a year. There is a pond in the backyard (probably seven feet long by four feet wide by 18 inches deep) with a waterfall and what were once verdant and lively flowerbeds and trees all around. Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe that the pond was winterized, it definitely wasn't emptied, and the bottom of the pond is full of what can only be described as... bracken? Muck? Gunk? There's an oily looking kind of film on the top, and the bottom seems covered in leaves and other biological refuse. It would seem to me that the liner is intact, because its obviously holding water, and there is an electrical outlet and a hose coming up out of the pond that runs back to the top of the waterfall. We have no experience in this kind of thing; I don't even know what I'm looking at, to be honest. Where do we start? Do we empty it and start over? I've attached some photos, and I apologize if they're not rotated correctly. The first photo is one I found on a shelf in the basement of what the pond looked like at its best. Any advice at all would be seriously appreciated. Thanks in advance, and I'm sorry if I've not provided enough information here - if there are any other details I can provide, I will be following up regularly.

 

[sissy]

welcome and guessing no fish and you may want to go deeper for your area .I know 4 ft or better is good if you are going to keep fish in it .Cord is for submerged pump and that is probably no good and hoses feed water fall .Submerged pumps in the winter in that shallow a pond could have a cracked case and could end up being a shocking thing .Is there electric out to the pond in the form of an outlet box

 

[sissy]

To empty is up to you but to keep fish in 18 inches of water in the winter will mean failure as the water will freeze solid .My pond is over 4 ft deep and i live in VA Good muck on the liner but the stuff on the bottom is a killer and toxic but may have frogs hiding in it .Not sure what you want to spend ,Pump go with an energy saving pump like laguna and webbs online is about the cheapest .But first get good rubber gloves and be careful and you want to get it cleaned before mosquito season .But you don't want to get sick either from it .Once you get the junk out you will know how deep it really is .Congrats on your new home and first pond .It will be a headache and a joy all in one .The addiction begins . :razz:

 

[Greenthirteen]

No fish. Yes, there is an outlet box, it is visible in the third and fourth photo, attached to a tree. At least, I think that's what that is.

 

[sissy]

I saw it but was not sure what it was and it is kinda close to the ground for safety .Test it also to make sure it is working right ,Testers you can buy cheap 6 or 25 dollars and every home owner should have one .I use the better one that tells you the electric is hooked up right and most home inspectors use it .Next your power supple how many amps do you have coming into the house and is the pond on a dedicated circuit .I have 220 and circuit breaker for my pond are 2 /15 amp breakers .That is a protected box but attached to a tree is odd and hoping it is not attached as the tree grows it will pull the box up with it .It has the in use cover which is what you want .

 

[sissy]

looking at the 4th pic I would guess they had an out of water pump that they disconnected and put the pump in the house so it would not freeze .Since there are 2 hoses there one was for the inlet and one for the outlet to the waterfall .Last pic I see another hose so not sure where that goes .Is it broke or could it have gone to maybe a pressurized filter that sent the water to the water fall .The pump if external would have fed the filter and then gone to the water fall

 

[sissy]

Sorry also hit wrong button my breaker panel is 200 amps not 220

 

[j.w]

Greenthirteen
Are you gonna put fish in there cuz if you do you will have to take them out during winter and bring them in the house. Too shallow really for Summer heat there too I would think. You could just do a fishless wildlife pond and let frogs and other critters use it. I'd just clean it all out and start over. Either check out the pump if you have one to make sure it works or buy a new one like sissy stated so you can have the nice waterfall running. The gunk you clean out will be very good for your garden beds. Just till it in real good and the plants will love it.

 

[Greenthirteen]

To tell the truth, I'm a little wary of having fish. We have a dog, and the idea of her "going fishing" kinda makes me sad. I don't want to create a kind of attraction that will invite raccoons or other wildlife that could pose a threat to the dog, either. The weather is warming up here, so next weekend we will start getting the stuff off the bottom. Stupid question, but we can just use buckets and regular garden tools to get the water and stuff out, right? Also, by toxic do you mean I shouldn't be breathing it? Or just that its toxic to the pond environment and the fish?

 

[Waterbug]

Buckets are good. I don't like to use garden tools for fear of damaging the liner. Besides, buckets work best imo.

You can buy/rent a pump to pump out the water and most of the muck. The pump has to be pretty good size 1/4 HP at least I'd say.

You can also use a swimming pool "leaf rake". Sold any place that sells swimming pool stuff. It has the advantage of being able to scoop some stuff as you have time as opposed to a complete drain which is a whole deal. Disadvantage is it doesn't remove everything and most new owners like a complete cleaning. With experience you'll learn how fast a completely clean pond can go right back to dirty and why a drain and clean doesn't really buy you much.

Once you get the pond completely empty you can hose down the liner and bail out that dirty water and repeat until you're happy. You can even scrub the liner if you like. First time cleaners always seem to want to scrub stuff. Doesn't really help much, but doesn't hurt anything either. I'd stay away from soap and chemicals.

You can also use a shop vac as long as it's a wet/dry vac (remove the filter). This can be hard on a vac and they're not as helpful as they may seem. I prefer a bucket myself.

Hope you can post some pictures of the cleaning.

 

[don't ask]

welcome

Greenthirteen, sorry about you having the task of cleaning before you get to enjoy....good luck