Silt vs. Muck

Sanco’s Muck Doctor is a concentrated beneficial bacteria that will quickly remove pond and lake muck from the pond floor in targeted areas. The terms muck and silt are often used interchangeably. However, silt is definitely different than muck.  Muck is made up of dead material and waste which is organic material.  Silt is a type of soil which is a combination of organic material and inorganic materials like minerals.

Soil is classified in three different categories:

Small Soil= Clay

Medium Soil= Silt

Large Soil= Sand

Each soil type can vary in the amount of organic (muck) vs. inorganic (mineral) parts.  This ratio is what determines if our product is worth using on your silt.  If you are sure what you have is silt the recommendation would be to have your silt tested at a local soil lab. A soil lab can do a test to let you know how many parts per million of your soil is organic vs. inorganic.   If your silt has a high organic content then our bacteria will certainly digest those parts.  If the silt has a high inorganic result, which means the mineral content is high, then our product will do very little.

A much less scientific approach is by simply examining the silt.  Can you push a broom handle or other object easily through the material on your pond floor?  Is it a dark, sticky substance…? If the answer to both of these questions is yes then your muck most likely has high organic levels.

For additional questions about our concentrated muck eating bacteria contact Sanco Industries.