Help needed: Need to get rid of pond

flipfloppi · 11 Mar 2009

I recently moved to a new house, which has a pond.. and with small kids running wild in the garden, I have decided that I needed to get rid of it.

I am looking at hiring a pump and emptying the water which is turning darker now, and fill it with something and grass it..

Can you please help me:

1) What sort of pump will I need? (the pond is about 3m x 2m x 1.5m deep et the deepest point)
2) What is the best material to use to fill the pond to ground level and grass it, perhaps I need more than one type of material?
3) do i need to compact the material when i am filling the pond?

Thank you for your help

leeco · 11 Mar 2009

1 go to a hire shop they will hire you the best kind

2 sounds like a big hole to fill but the top 500mm id fill with some good top soil

3 yes go back to the hire shop and hire a wacka plate and compact it down every now and again when your filling it up or over time it will sink

Diyisfun · 11 Mar 2009

What about the things that live in it.
Why not get a strong mesh & lay it on the top.
You will then be helping with the pond life & your child can learn about what goes on in the water world.
If you intend staying in the property you will regret filling the pond.

But if you decide to get rid of the pond, just fill it up & the water will flow away, not rocket science.

Pyromaniac · 11 Mar 2009

Unless you fill it with concrete it will still end up full of water . . .

Unless you are breaking up the base or making provision for its water holding properties to be bypassed.

leeco · 11 Mar 2009

Diyisfun said:
What about the things that live in it.
Why not get a strong mesh & lay it on the top.
You will then be helping with the pond life & your child can learn about what goes on in the water world.
If you intend staying in the property you will regret filling the pond.

But if you decide to get rid of the pond, just fill it up & the water will flow away, not rocket science.

that sounds like a better option, buy a uv pond filter and turn the water back clear. i have a big pond in my garden and it has some big koi carp in there plus i put a small fence round it to keep the kids away, its great in the summer

Alastairreid · 11 Mar 2009

Unless you fill it with concrete it will still end up full of water . . .

. if he breaks through the pond liner it should drain away naturally........wont it.........unless it was heavy clay soil.

Symptoms · 11 Mar 2009

floppi - I'm with Diyisfun on this one. A sheet of weldmesh (available from a builders merchant who'll deliver it) placed over the pond will prevent your ankle biters taking a dive. The mesh will allow the birds & other wildlife access and provide your nippers with hours of educational enjoyment watching the pond life. If you need to do the occasional bit of maintenance in the pond (leaf clearing say) you simply lift the mesh off. The mesh will also allow for plants to grow through helping to disguise it.

When the your ankle biters grow into teenagers (wallet emptiers) remove the mesh.

If you remove the pond your garden could develop into a wildlife desert ... there'd be nothing for the wildlife to come for.

breezer · 11 Mar 2009

whilst it is not nice to get rid of a pond, if the kids concerend are under 3 i would regretfully say, empty it.

If over 3 then fence or mesh and show them waht wild life is.

if yopu do have to pump it i suggest this Yes i know it says clean water, but i havent finished yet.

any pump pumping an old pond will very soon become blocked wih old leaves sticks etc, even dirty water pumps dont like this.

Get an old bucket, make some 1./8 inch holes in it and put the pump in that and put that in the pond the bucket will act as a screen to stop the small bits blocking the pump.

You can keep the pump for future use. just dont get one of them stick it on the drill things, they burn out drills

ifatfirst · 11 Mar 2009

The most endangered wildlife in a garden with a pond are children under 6.

A pond can always be recreated, a child can't.

flipfloppi · 11 Mar 2009

Hello friends,

thank you all for your replies, yes definitely filling the pond, it's just not worth it with very small super fast kids.......

from what i understand:

1) i have to pump the water out
2) remove the container or making holes in it for the water to escape
3) fill the hole with material and compact it (are we talking gravel, type I, or sand??)4) top 500mm must be top quality top soil

Thanks

Thermo · 12 Mar 2009

fill it with any well broken hardcore and compact it down. With regards the topsoil it depends what you are growing in there, but most topsoil only extends 300mm down anyway.

ColJack · 12 Mar 2009

you could always just fill it with sand and have it as a sand pit for the kids to play in.. then when they are older and grown out of sandpits, dig the sand out and turn it back into a pond..

MadAlicesDad · 12 Mar 2009

We tried to remove a concrete pond when we moved in to our house - drilled holes, smashed it with hammers etc but it still filled with water. In the end we gave up and made it back into a pond, but covered it with 2" galvanised mesh on a wooden framework until the kids were old enough to know better.
We've since got rid of the original pond and replaced it with one about the size that you are trying to get rid of. My daughters were 4 and 7 at the time, but they both know it can be dangerous and stay away unless supervised. They do however have the opportunity to see nature, and have somewhere to sail their boats!
It depends upon your perception of risk, only you can decide. Then again we live on a main road full of lorries, the kids walk to school a mile away and I drive around in a car with no airbags.

Mike

oilman · 14 Mar 2009

breezer said:
whilst it is not nice to get rid of a pond, if the kids concerend are under 3 i would regretfully say, empty it.

But then you are a professional pond man and suffer from elfansafetee.

There are 30,000 (yes the figures are near enough right) cases of people involved in accidents through falling down stairs. After you have filled in your pond, make sure you get rid of the staircase.

Thermo · 14 Mar 2009

147 children died in ponds in private gardens between 1995 and 2005. Good enough reason to take one out if you are not happy

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Help needed: Need to get rid of pond

breezer

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