Anyone Use a Trash Pumpt to Clean pond?

[scesnick]

There are companies out there that will suck the muck off of the bottom of you pond for you. I can't remember any of them off hand, but my buddy had mentioned it. I don't think you'll be able to do it well yourself, without spending a lot of money.

I would love to find one of those companies in my general area.

 

[scesnick]

O.K. after doing a bit more searching I found this

FA Series Diaphragm Pumps - Mud Sucker Pumps

This is in the FAQ section.


What kinds of fluids does a diaphragm pump transfer?

Diaphragm pumps transfer almost any kind of slurry, debris laden waste, food processing residual, liquid, stones, sticks, sugar, oil sludge, refinery waste, mud, clay pharmaceutical, industrial fluids and much more. For

 

[955Lincoln]

O.K. after doing a bit more searching I found this

FA Series Diaphragm Pumps - Mud Sucker Pumps

This is in the FAQ section.


What kinds of fluids does a diaphragm pump transfer?

Diaphragm pumps transfer almost any kind of slurry, debris laden waste, food processing residual, liquid, stones, sticks, sugar, oil sludge, refinery waste, mud, clay pharmaceutical, industrial fluids and much more. For

That is your basic "trash pump" and the diaphragm style is what I would choose for silt and mud. Since you have an easy solution for the debris I would go ahead and rent one for the weekend and see if you are happy with the results. At least you could tell the wifey that you tried

 

[MMagis]

I would love to find one of those companies in my general area.

I know this isn't close, but maybe these guys can lead you to someone closer.

Contact Us

 

[20 20]

I vaguely remember some of your older post/pictures. It sounds like you may have a good base soil{??} If it were me I'd do the job once do it the best way possible and be happy for years. I hate to discourage your idea on a mud sucker, but I still think drain and dredge would be the answer. have you talked to any local folks with an excavator and or dozer? I've found an excavator will work much faster then a dozer especially for what your wanting to do. The 2 together would be great.

I seen those before. I really like them and they look like they would work well but the $9,000 base price for the small one turned me off in a hurry.

wow, unless you had many jobs or could hire out, that is crazy.

 

[CollinLeon]

How deep is it and how clear is the water? Check some of the local dive shops around your area. There are some guys out there that will look for any excuse to go diving... If you offer to pay for their air fills and provide them all the beer they can drink, they'll help you out. With respect to air fills, you could probably save some money there by rigging up an air hose to a oil-less compressor. It sounds like what you are wanting to do is similar to what some of the underwater archeologists use for excavating sunken ancient ships that have filled with sand.

 

[CurlyDave]

Where are you intending to put the spoils?

This is going to be a big pile of stinky muck -- the more success you have, the bigger the pile.

A lot of dredges use a bubble pump, where air is injected at the bottom of a tube and the air bubbles carry water and mud with them as they rise in the tube. The true beauty of this system is that no solids or other material ever enters the air pump.

I haven't really looked into it very thoroughly, but I don't think it is very good at transporting things horizontally, only vertically, so the spoils go onto a barge.

If the pond isn't too deep you wouldn't need a real compressor for the air supply, a blower would do just fine.

 

[MarkV]

Might want to check over at the Pondboss web site for advice. If it has to do with a pond someone over there has done it.

MarkV

 

[CollinLeon]

This is going to be a big pile of stinky muck -- the more success you have, the bigger the pile.

But it will probably be fairly fertile given the fact that it is probably made up of various organic debris that has collected over the years.

Having stepped in waterways before where the muck was 3 ft deep, let's just hope that he doesn't have that level of muck at the bottom of his pond or he's going to be pumping quite a bit...

If there is any chance of removing the sealing layer of the soil at the bottom of the pond, he could just replace it with bentonite.

Bentonite :: Leaking Ponds :: Pond Sealant

 

[MarkV]

If there is any chance of removing the sealing layer of the soil at the bottom of the pond, he could just replace it with bentonite.

Bentonite :: Leaking Ponds :: Pond Sealant

That is correct and I understand that bentonite is readily available in Texas at a reasonable price. Here in Georgia where it is not a natural resource and has to be trucked in the price for a 3/4 acre pond is way up there. We looked into it for a smaller pond on another property.

MarkV