Pond Aeration Going Global

The need for clean and healthy ponds is a global challenge not just one seen in North America.

Around the world global pond owners are discovering the benefits of pond aeration. In the developed countries aeration has been considered a key component to successfully maintaining and keeping pond water healthy and clean for decades. The use of electrical aeration systems and more recently windmill aeration systems have been growing exponentially each year.

It has taken developing countries longer to catch on to aeration benefits for four main reasons:

• Education of pond water quality and how to effectively maintain the water’s health has been lacking.
• Limited number of cost effective aeration solutions available for developing countries.
• Limited to no available power supply in order to run electrical aeration systems.
• Limited awareness of alternative energy aeration systems such as windmills.

Koenders Windmills and Outdoor Water Solutions are examples of companies joining forces to help developing countries improve pond water quality. These companies are working with Heart to Honduras ministries in Honduras. The goal is to add aeration to their Tilapia ponds in an effort to increase their fish rate of gain and decrease their mortality.

Providing better food and especially animal protein in developing countries is a way to help feed the hungry. Aerating fish production ponds and being able to pump water from wells and ponds is another way the Koenders windmill driven aeration systems are helping people around the world.

© 2006, Pond Owner Magazine.
www.pondowner.com

Pond Sediment Filling in Ponds

Pond depths are dramatically affected by the amount of pond sediment that is generated on an ongoing basis in one’s pond. Pond sediment is defined as the residue that cannot be saturated into the water source and therefore falls to the bottom of the pond. Pond sediment is caused by the following main factors:

• Water inflows into a pond and along with it the soils and other sediment causing matter.
• Decomposing organic matter such as leaves, aquatic vegetation, animal wastes.
• Heavy rain surface run offs such as soils and other organic matter.

Pond Sediment or sometimes called pond fillers can take a pond that is 20 ft deep and in a matter of years fill it in to a depth of 12-15 ft deep.

Many pond owners spend thousands of dollars every 5-10 years digging out their ponds and then the fill in process starts all over again.

Here are a few ideas for pond owners to prevent pond fill in:

• Limit the number of trees surrounding the pond this will reduce the amount of foliage that will enter the pond.
• Grow grass and other vegetation around the pond to prevent erosion and soil running off into the pond.
• Install a pond aeration system which will speed up the decomposition process of organic matter that resides at the bottom of the pond – it will also increase the oxygen levels in the water source, helping burn off excess nutrients in the water.

There are some extremely reliable aeration systems on the market and some that do not require any electricity to operate. Windmill pond aeration systems have become extremely popular in recent years. The world leader in this market is Koenders Windmills, the innovators of windmill aeration systems 20 years ago.

© 2006, Pond Owner Magazine.
www.pondowner.com

The Sun’s Affect on Ponds

Pond Owners rarely consider the affects that sun can have on their ponds. There are some positive affects and some negative ones too. In this article we explore both.

From a positive perspective, the Sun’s rays shine down into the pond and onto the aquatic vegetation that exists in the pond. The sunlight causes a natural oxygen generating process to occur which is a by-product of the photosynthesis process, which is crucial for the fish and other aquatic wildlife to survive. This is sun’s positive affect on a pond.

The negative affect that sunlight can have on ponds is that the further it penetrates the water body the warmer it heats it up. Heating up a pond can cause a depletion of oxygen and fish kill. Also, sunlight facilitates the growth of aquatic vegetation so unwanted algae and weeds can grow even more in a sunlit pond.

There are a few suggested strategies to help off set the Sun’s negative affects;

• Pond Dyes – there are companies that are offering pond dyes so that you can tint your pond surface the same way one would tint the windows on their car. This prevents the sun’s rays from penetrating too deep into the pond. Keeps the pond water cooler and cuts back on the amount of pond vegetation. Be careful of the pond dyes that you use – research the compounds that are in them – new pond care packs are coming out on the market that are cost effective and do not use chemicals to dye the water and are more environment friendly.
• Pond Aeration Systems – both electric and windmill aeration systems are proven to help circulate pond water and increase the levels of oxygen throughout the pond. It also brings up cool water from the bottom of the pond and helps temper the warmer areas of the water.

© 2006, Pond Owner Magazine.
www.pondowner.com