Have you ever seen a large pond in a condominium complex, home development, or a business park that has a green film and excessive weed growth on its shoreline. Perhaps you have a pond near your home and you think to yourself, “if this pond could only be cleaned up up of all the algae and cattails it would be a beautiful pond.” Many pond and water companies out there feel the best way to treat these murky water ponds is to dump chemicals or water treatments into the water to help clean them up. Others, decide to add blue dyes to the water and cover up and mask the problem. These alternatives can help but the key to a clean pond or aquatic system is to work with mother nature instead of fight against her. The Answer is a Wetland Filtration System.
The Dept. of Environmental Quality protects natural wetlands because they naturally filter water running through them into a larger bodies of water. Natural Wetlands filter water by flowing through a series of stone, gravels, and aquatic plants to naturally filter the water. The same concept can be implemented into a natural or man made pond. The team at Aquascape Inc. has developed a system called a Wetland Filtration System shown in the diagrams shown in this article. The pond starts with an intake bay or a housing system where a pump is installed to pull water from one edge of the pond and push it into a constructed Wetland Filter built along the ponds upper shoreline edge. A formula of the Wetland Filter’s size is determined by the ponds approximate square footage. The water is then pumped into the bottom of the Wetland Filter where it moves slowly up through a layer of Aquablox and different size washed stone (see diagrams) before falling back into the Pond. The Pond now has a circulating system that pulls water from one side of the pond and moves it up through the Wetland Filter and back into the pond.
Wetland Filtration is great for smaller ponds with a large fish load. The formula for a safe fish load in a pond is approximately 1″ of fish per 10 gallons of water. For example, if there is a high fish load in a 500 Square Foot Koi Pond, an approx 100 Square Foot Wetland Filter installed on the ponds edge
can be a great way to keep that pond not only looking crystal clear, but also safe for your fish if there is a more concentrated fish load in your backyard pond.
The Pond Experts at Platinum Ponds & Landscaping are certified Aquascape Contractors and we have implemented the Wetland Filtration systems into our customers large ponds and the results have been stunning! No more algae and pond sludge. No more murky ugly water with green film. The water is naturally cleaned by the wetland filter and Ponds that our customers have had algae issues for years are now solved. To learn more about Wetland Filtration and to find out if if is a good fit for your pond, please contact the team at Platinum Ponds & Landscaping today!