Will my bog filter out the dirt/dust from all the gravel I used to build it?

[nimrod]

I'm sure this is answered in the bog mega-thread, but my searches were coming up empty. I just finished building my bog, and the pump is pushing water through it! Very exciting. But the gravel and stone that I used to make the bog (about 5 yards total) was not very clean going in. I tried to rinse it, but it proved pretty futile. So I just shoveled it in there. The water that was flowing up from the bog was coming out pretty brown yesterday, but today it seems much less brown.

Should I dump all my murky pond water, and fill fresh? Or will this work itself out? Where will all that dirt go? I imagine it's just eventually settling on the bottom of the bog. Seems like this will cause issues for me down the way. But I chose the bog for how maintenance free it seemed to be.

now all i need to do is wait until we get some drier weather so I can work on the edging of this dang pond. It's a literal mud pit out there!

 

[addy1]

Don't dump the water, I did not rinse the approximate 38000 lbs of gravel I used , the water did clear.

You could also get some quilt batting and run the water through it, remove some of the fine particles. That stuff is dirty even with washing and washing. We are on a well it was a drought, miserable hot, we just used the tractor to bucket it into the bog.

 

[addy1]

Every year I have a layer of fine mud on top of the gravel, in the spring and fall (spring before fire up) fall after turn off, I rake some of it out. Dirt mud whatever from running for a summer.

The dirt from the pea gravel never made the bog not work well.

 

[nimrod]

I had a feeling you'd chime in! Your experience with your bog has been a major driver in my decision and planning. I only had 12,000lbs of rock in my bog, but I made it oversized for my pond because of the ducks. I'll see if I have some quilt batting around to attempt to suck some of the silt out, but I doubt it. So I guess I'll just let 'er rip!

Thanks addy

 

[SarahT]

When I put my bog in, I'd rinsed the gravel, but there was still silt muddying the water as I was starting to pump water through the bog. I put a second pump in the bog and drained it into the yard until the water was much more clear (small bog - maybe 10 minutes), turned off the bog-clearing pump. I gradually added water (to prevent too much chlorine in there) into the pond-bog system.
Worked like a charm. It might still work for you, if the silt is still mostly in the bog rocks.

 

[addy1]

I'll see if I have some quilt batting around to attempt to suck some of the silt out, but I doubt it. So I guess I'll just let 'er rip!

wally world, amazon, not too bad of a price.

This is a few years in about the 5 foot deep area. The globs on the bottom are trap door snails or hornwort growing. You can see the pea gravel here and there, it seems to wander in by itself.

 

[brokensword]

IMO, it will clear, but if you don't have any fish/animals to worry about yet and if re-filling isn't too onerous, I'd drain and fill again. I didn't do that but I'm on a well (along with waaaaayyy too many fish, + 7K gallons) and it makes a difference. In time, it will settle out but yeah, welcome to the world of 'I have X tons of pea gravel; should I wash it?' and we all sit back and laugh quietly understanding the futility of it all, or having actually DONE some cleaning, look down at our prune-y hands and just shake our head (I raise my hand here, having done both!) Lots and lots of work to really get it clean enough so you won't be asking such questions. You did the more sane way, be assured.

 

[addy1]

I'd drain and fill again. I didn't do that but I'm on a well

It took two weeks if not more to fill the pond, we only ran the well xx hours a day. Other people in the neighborhood well's were going dry. So no draining and refilling for us.

 

[GBBUDD]

Depending how well you did building the bog and how many times your flow turns over the entire volume of the pond. I have about 15,000 to 18000 gallons and a pump of 12,000 . my water can clean within 4 hours but again it depends how concentrated you silt is in the water it could take a week

 

[poconojoe]

My water was totally green from free floating algae before the bog addition.

When I built the bog, I tried rinsing my gravel with every wheelbarrow full, but even with that my water was full of brown silt.

In less than a week of running the new bog the water was crystal clear. No more green algae or muddy silt.
I could see fish I didn't even know I had!
I discovered a potted plant on the bottom. I had no clue it was there!

 

[nimrod]

So my pond is a circle: 16ft diameter, with an average depth of 2ft. This gives a volume of almost exactly 3,000 gallons.

BUT, my bog is 1/3 of that (maybe a smidge more). The bog portion is full of rock/gravel, so not 100% water (40%? maybe?)

So my pond volume is ~2000 gallons.

my pump is 2700gph. So I will assume I get about 1 turnover per hour.

I am not a huge fan of dumping 3,000 gallons of water into my yard for no reason, but I think if I pull off some of the silty water and replace, it should clear up in a reasonable time. It's Oregon in the winter... I'll get the water back in a hurry. I have some water capture from my greenhouse walls, and I redirect the overflow into the pond anyway. So I won't just be running the hose for a whole day!

 

[brokensword]

So my pond is a circle: 16ft diameter, with an average depth of 2ft. This gives a volume of almost exactly 3,000 gallons.

BUT, my bog is 1/3 of that (maybe a smidge more). The bog portion is full of rock/gravel, so not 100% water (40%? maybe?)

So my pond volume is ~2000 gallons.

my pump is 2700gph. So I will assume I get about 1 turnover per hour.

I am not a huge fan of dumping 3,000 gallons of water into my yard for no reason, but I think if I pull off some of the silty water and replace, it should clear up in a reasonable time. It's Oregon in the winter... I'll get the water back in a hurry. I have some water capture from my greenhouse walls, and I redirect the overflow into the pond anyway. So I won't just be running the hose for a whole day!

well, as noted, you can just wait it out and see. If it's still silty in two weeks, then do some partial changes to see if it helps. I think anything from the rock WILL eventually settle either because it's too heavy and sinks or it'll get sucked into your bog and stay there.

 

[poconojoe]

Have some patience. It WILL clear up.
As I stated, mine cleared in less than a week and not only did I have the silt from the gravel, but also dense green free floating algae.

My stats:
Pond itself is approximately 1800 gallons.
Bog is 14 feet X 5 feet and 12 inches of gravel.
Pump is submersible Tetra 3650 gallons per hour.
Pump has 1-1/2 inch output size and I increased it to 2 inch pipe within the bog.
The bog has two manifold legs under the gravel, each approximately 10 feet long with slits cut 1/3 through the PVC (manifold) pipes spaced 1-1/2 inches apart.

Hope this helps.

 

[nimrod]

Thanks poconojoe,
Sounds pretty similar to mine. I will just wait it out, and pump out partial chunks of water before expected rain. Might as well take advantage of the natural precipitation! There should be at least a tiny benefit from building a pond (aka: mud hole) in the winter months!

I will put together a build album as soon as I can figure out how exactly do do such a thing.

 

[poconojoe]

Enjoy!
You will find that patience is a big part of this hobby.
Things just don't happen overnight for the most part.
You have already done the ultimate best thing for you and your pond by installing a bog filter.
Zero filter maintenance and crystal clear water make this whole thing so much more enjoyable.