Muddy Pond Water

Many pond owners are plagued by the problem of muddy pond water, also known as, chocolate milk water, brown pond water, tea colored water, cloudy pond water and the descriptions go on.  There are a couple primary factors that will cause muddy pond water.  If you are a pond owner dealing with the problem of muddy pond water go through the list of questions below.

Do you have rock around the perimeter of your pond?

Have you had heavy rainfall in the past week?

Do you have fish like carp or koi?

Is your pond less than 3 years old?

Is your pond surrounded by trees?

If you answered yes to any of these questions; you may have found the culprit causing your muddy pond water.

Not having rock around your pond will encourage erosion.  You will constantly have fresh dirt being broken off into your pond making it impossible to have clear water.  Heavy rainfalls will bring all sorts of runoff into a pond causing muddy/cloudy pond water.  Pair a heavy rainfall with improperly constructed shorelines and the problem is even worse.  Fish, like carp and koi, are bottom feeding and very rowdy.  Having too many fish like this in a small area will cause your pond to be muddy because they will kick up sediment on the pond floor.  Newly dug ponds can have a muddy appearance for up to 5 years.  It takes some time for a new pond to fill up, get the shoreline rocks installed, and grass established around the perimeter.  Even after all of this is done there is still a period of time the pond will need to settle.  Ponds surrounded by trees will often have a tint that looks like tea.  This is caused by the massive amount of leaves that have collected on the pond floor.  The leaves act like a tea bag in water and the water will me discolored.

If you answered no to all of these questions you could have a problem with suspended particles in your body of water or algae can cause a pond to look muddy.  Suspended particles can sometimes be bound together with pond dye or a flocculent.  Once bound together, these floating particles will sink to the bottom.  If it is an algae problem a treatment with a copper based product like Crystal Plex will kill the algae and your pond’s original color will be restored.

For more information on getting your pond in tip-top shape contact Sanco Industries.