Having a body of water near or on your property can be one of two things: a beautiful, natural accent to your home—or an absolute nuisance. Ponds can add value to the homes nearby, and they can do just the opposite.
Unfortunately, many people living near a pond are stuck with the latter of these scenarios.
You may currently find yourself in the same situation—asking yourself, just like many other people, “why does my pond look so bad?” “Is there a solution?” The answer is yes.
But before we get into the solution, let’s have a closer look at the problems facing ponds:
Bad Water Clarity
Bad water clarity can come from a variety of sources, from algae blooms to floating organic matter and muck. It is quantified by turbidity, a measurement of how clear your water column is—and the more organic matter you have floating around in your pond, the worse it looks.
Often times, this organic matter acts as a fuel for algae to proliferate as well, making your pond look even worse.
Unsightly Algae
Algae come in many different varieties, from a simple light green water hue to thick mucus-like mats floating across the surface. Excess nutrients (fertilizer, organic matter, etc.) cause this algae to grow rapidly, casting an ugly green shroud over your pond.
No matter its form, algae can certainly make your pond look like a cesspool.
Nasty Odor
It most ponds, odor originates from dead, rotting organic matter. When this material is broken down in an oxygen-deprived environment, it releases smelly compounds like hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg smell), methane, and ammonia.
Pond odor can also come from certain types algae and a pond phenomenon called turnover. Read more at our Pond Odor blog post.
Stagnant, Mosquito Breeding Water
Many ponds aren’t spring fed—or they receive so little flow that the water basically sits and stagnates. This water provides the perfect breeding ground for mosquito and other nuisance insects to lay their larvae.
This affects not only the quality of the water in your pond, but also the environment around your home when the larvae hatch. With dangerous diseases like West Nile on the rise, you can never be too cautious about what you have proliferating in your pond.
Excess Bottom Muck
Muck is a general term for all sorts of things that comprise the sludge accumulating on the bottom of your pond. A large portion of the muck is dead, rotting organic matter that can sometimes be many feet deep.
When this muck decays without mixing and oxygen, it produces noxious smelling gasses and clouds your water. It also provides the perfect fuel for algae, allowing sprawling mats of algae to canvas the surface of your pond.
The Solution to a Dirty Pond
The Double Bubble™ action of the MARS Aeration System is the answer to your dirty pond problem. This Patented Technology both mixes & aerates, effectively rehabilitating your pond in an eco-friendly manner. The MARS does this by:
- Breaking down the organic matter that is clouding your water and accumulating on the bottom. This breakdown also removes the nutrients, or algae food, from the pond, reducing the growth of algae.
- Adding Oxygen to the water that absorbs the noxious pond odors, freshening the water at the same time.
- Mixing the Entire Water Column to keep the water from stagnating, dissuading the breeding of insects. Not only this, but with the added oxygen mixed throughout the entire pond expands the fish habitat, who love to eat up all the larvae before they hatch.
For more information on the MARS Aeration System, watch the video on Eco-Friendly Pond Aeration on the home page.
Tags: Algae, pond muck, pond odor, water clarity
