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Old pond ? If you no longer want your old pond or you have moved into a house with a pond that you do not want for what ever reason what can you do to remove it? Myths / bad idea Fill it with soil Bad idea, firstly where are you going to get the soil from? dig a hole and use that? then how will you fill the new hole? Soil will absorb some of the water but not all of it, so all you will end up doing is is making a big "mud pie" Also if there is any wildlife, you will bury it alive, not forgetting the pond still has a liner, so what happens when it rains? Make a children's sand pit. A better sounding idea, but you cant just fill it full of sand as you will have all the old pond matter still in it, and you will make a giant sand pie, children's sand pits should be made with washed clean sand. A sand pit is also attractive to any passing animals to use as a toilet, not good (that is why ready made sand pits have a lid, its not just to keep the rain out. Pierce the liner with a fork to let it drain. If you do this some water will drain away but more than likely it will just go under the liner and lift it. This often happens if the pond has been there for years, over time the soil under the liner becomes compacted and does not readily allow water to drain away. What to do The best option is to remove all the water, be it by pump, bail it out or if you can siphon it. When this has been done you should remove any solids that are left, usually it is just silt and other decaying matter, ideally you should put this to one side for a day or two so that if you have collected any wildlife it can get away Which pump? If you have a pond pump you should be able to use this to empty the majority of the water, I have found that a plastic dustpan does very well at getting out the "last bits" If you wish to buy a pump a sump pump is best, since its cheap, and can be used for other uses. sump pumps come in two varieties, clean or dirty water. Dirty water pumps will often be able to pump out small solids. if you have a clean water pump I suggest you use an old bucket, drill lots of 1/8th inch holes all over the bucket and put your sump pump in this, then into the pond, the bucket will act as a filter and only let the water in which your pump can easily pump out.
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