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Pond cleaning Pond cleaning, should I? Pond cleaning is a good idea, because it enables you to remove any old decomposing material such as leaves etc. Some may argue that nature doesn't "clean" ponds why should you? to that i say, nature doesn't have a whole with a liner in it. If your pond is fairly big / deep then i would suggest that you may like to pump most of the water out, how ever you should be careful and watch the pump to make sure no wild life gets sucked in. If you pond is not that big, then i suggest you use a bucket to bail it out., you should bail out the remainder if you opt to use a pump. You should of course remove any plants first As the water level starts to drop, save some water in a container a, bucket will do, but if it is a really big pond you may want to consider a temporary pool As the water level drops it will now be easier to catch any fish / wild life, put these into the bucket that you already have (as just mentioned), the sludge you will find at the bottom of your pond, may contain wild life, best idea is to put it outside but next to the pond so that if there is any wild life hiding / you missed it can make its way back into the pond. Now the pool is empty you can clean it . The best method is a running water supply and a stiff brush (NOT a wire brush) with this you can remove any "encrusted algae" etc. Obviously as you are using running water it will fill the pool as you clean, this water you must empty as required. Under no circumstances should you use any chemicals to clean the pond, although if its a big pond a pressure washer can be used but take care. Now all the debris is removed and the pond is clean you can now refill the pond, do this using clean water, either form a hose (if permitted) or form a water butt. As you fill the pond if you are using a hose point it upwards, so it falls like rain this will helps disperse any chlorine in the water, you could also opt to add a dechlorinator as the pond is nearly full slowly re introduce any wild life you have kept in the bucket, stand back and admire. Water features Similarly stand alone water features will want cleaning, pumps will require checking and servicing, any holes (That are meant to be there) should be checked / cleaned (pipe cleaner is good)
The leaves are being sucked towards the drainage holes, so starving the sump of water, which may cause the pump to burn out.
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