Pool companies just use chemicals to clean their pools, won’t that work for my pond?
While in theory that might make sense, in practice it does not work. With a mainstream pool the common goal is to create a perfectly crystalline environment free from any foreign matter. While this may work with a swimming pool, it does not work effectively with a pond. A properly built pond is designed to work with nature, not against it. When you try to clean your pond water with chemicals, you essentially sterilize your system which leads to breakdowns. Many of the chemicals you’d put in your pool would kill all the beneficial bacteria in your pond that keeps the system taking care of itself, leading to many more problems than you’d realize.
What’s the alternative to chemicals in my pond?
The idea behind water sterilization reveals a mindset distinctly different from natural pond care. The underlying belief is that water gardening is won by concocting the most potent chemical sterilizer. The types of filters, chemicals, energy consumption, and lack of beneficial life in these systems is a world apart from that of natural pond care. As a natural ecosystem pond is intended to work with nature, all you have to do is set in place those parts found in nature and help them get moving. They’ll do the rest!
At the end of the day, it’s a shift from viewing a pond simply as a fish filled pool to recognizing that it’s a vibrant, self-sustaining natural ecosystem. Everything is connected and working together, from the fish to the plants to the rocks, nature does its own best job at keeping itself clean with just a little bit of help from you to make sure all the elements are there. When you help keep the balance of your ecosystem alive, you will be surprised at the incredible ability it has to keep itself clearer than any other methods. Because nature really does what it’s best at doing.
If you need help with cleaning and maintaining your own pond, feel free to learn more on doing it yourself with our Seasonal Maintenance Tips for Backyard Ponds and by checking out our pond cleaning and maintenance services for our Minnesota neighbors!