RE: Testing the pond
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With ponds keep in mind that it is good practice to drain them every few years (or once a decade) and de-muck them with heavy equipment.
When draining the pond (if you want to keep the aquatic life) the water can be pumped into very large containers that are kind of like massive water balloons. Then when the de-mucking is finished, the water is pumped back into the cavity and the pond's ecosystem does not have to start over from scratch.
The pond muck itself can actually be farmed and has tremendous value as fertilizer depending on its content.
If algae becomes problematic it is a common practice to use a UV blocking dye, to block the sunlight for a day or two which effectively kills the algae.
What you have there may actually be a lake and not a pond depending on how many acres it is and the distinguishing guidelines of the state (or county) that you are in. That may not seem like a big deal but the difference can be huge depending on what you are doing or plan to do with it.
Keep in mind that any time you are dealing with a large body of water that you have two other factors to pay attention to. Which are, that it is in a watershed and that it will have a wetland attached to it.
Depending on where you are and what you are doing with it the EPA can levy some rather hefty fines for how you effect things in regards to the pond/lake, the watershed, the wetland or some combination of all three including but not limited to any downstream effects. In other words it is a good idea to research the topic thoroughly.
Happy New Year to you and yours!
EDIT: @solominer just tagging you so you do not miss this comment. :)
Oh interesting, I did not think about the demucking part. I may need to find a company near by that does that. Sounds like requires some special hardware.
I really do not want to add dyes to the pond, would rather deal with the algae by adjusting the PH if possible.
Good points on it may being a watershed, and possibly being a lake.. I will need to look into that. Surely I do not want any fines or to mess up the ecosystem. Just testing for now and figuring out my next steps with the pond.
Thanks man, you too!
Glad you see the significance of treating it all with thoughtfulness.
Yeah, look into the de-mucking for sure. I used to know the numbers for it (with the muck value) but off the top of my head I think that 'good muck' (usable as fertilizer) comes out to something like a yield of 10k USD per one acre in retail value.
As for the dyes most of them (designed for that kind of thing) are super non-toxic (or harmful) and the dye dissipates after a few days.
If you look into the state guidelines around ponds/lakes you can generally find all kinds of helpful information on the care of them as well.
Also the EPA (in many states but not all states) is setup in such a way that they will come out, assess your particular scenario and help you not run afoul of their guidelines.
They get a bad rap but whoa they tend to really know their stuff... and are much more into helping folks before there are any problems... than afterwards when fines need to be levied.