Anthony Dulio at American Underwater Services is an expert in pond dredging and put together this article explaining the Three Reasons to Dredge Your Pond This Spring. If you have any questions about dredging your pond contact Anthony for help.
Springtime is just around the corner, and that means mild weather, longer days, and the color green returning to the landscape. In most parts of the country, spring lasts for just a few short weeks before the hot summer months start creeping in.
For golf courses, homeowners, organizations, and HOA’s, this means a relatively short period of time to perform much-needed maintenance that will ensure the health and longevity of the ponds on their property.
If a pond isn’t maintained properly, it can undergo nuisance algae outbreaks, fish and wildlife die-offs, and even cause lower property values as the once crystal-clear water turn a sickly shade of green and noxious odors start making their way into the air.
Here are four reasons you should consider dredging your ponds in the first few weeks of springtime in 2019 to ensure a healthy and beautiful year-round body of water.
Increase the Size of the Pond
Dredging a pond gets rid of mud, muck, weeds, organic sediment, and trash – all of which can cause a pond to shrink in size. As the months go by, leaves and other organic sediment get blown into the pond and settle towards the very bottom.
The deepest part of the pond is where most of the organic matter accumulates. There is little to no oxygen here which means it cannot support a colony of beneficial bacteria that would normally eat and break down the organic sediment.
The result is a massive pile of organic material that’s leeching a lot of nutrients into the water column. These nutrients feed harmful algae and nuisance plants. All it takes is one warm summer day to cause massive nuisance algae to bloom that not only looks bad but can create some pretty offensive odors! A professional dredger can remove this organic sediment, and over time that can help increase the size of the pond.
Remove Nuisance Algae
Have you ever been to a pond that has a nuisance algae outbreak? If not, count your lucky stars. Most nuisance algae outbreaks put off a powerful offensive odor that can lower property values and cause people and animals to steer clear.
The removal of the organic sediment from the bottom of the pond ensures that the algae don’t have a food source which can cause it to bloom out of control. Fewer algae mean crystal-clear water – and no need to pour toxic anti-algae chemicals into the water which can kill off fish and other wildlife.
Finally, if your ponds contain fish or other aquatic water life, algae suck up precious oxygen and can cause a huge fish die-off in a matter of hours on a hot summer day. By dredging the pond, you’ll be removing organic sediment which will make your fish (and the people who eat them) very happy.
Increased Property Values
Imagine a golfer who just paid $100 to play 18 holes. How do you think he would react to walking up to the 6th hole and seeing a smelly, ugly, algae-ridden pond? He probably wouldn’t be recommending to his friends that they join him for a game of golf at this course anytime soon.
The same goes for a prospective homeowner. If the HOA isn’t dredging and maintaining their ponds, that precious water view turns into a murky swamp view. If an algae outbreak occurs, the noxious odors can come wafting into the house through even the smallest crack in the windows.
By having their ponds dredged, the golf course or Home Owners Association will ensure that the property values won’t go down for homes that are built nearby.
Dredging a pond can also save precious time and money. The maintenance staff usually have a laundry list of maintenance items to attend to – having to run to Home Depot to grab a few bags of potentially toxic algae removal chemicals and then administer them to the water costs both time and money.
Save Money
If a nuisance algae outbreak occurs or if the pond starts getting cluttered with a massive amount of weeds, there’s always the possibility that chemicals alone won’t fix the problem. Algae and nuisance weed outbreaks stem from vast piles of organic matter at the bottom of the pond.
If the pond hasn’t been dredged in a while, no amount of chemicals will fix the outbreak. At this point, the only thing that will work is an intensive dredging process.
By having your ponds dredged twice a year, your golf course or HOA can save hundreds, if not thousands of dollars by not having to buy toxic algae and weed control chemicals.
Nation-Wide Expert Pond Dredgers
At American Underwater Services, we specialize in HOA and golf course pond dredging. We can help you regain control over your ponds and turn them into crystal-clear water havens for fish, animals, and people alike.
Give us a call today at (817) 367-6383 to learn more about how we can help you. Although we are based in Fort Worth, we can travel anywhere in the continental U.S. to help you with your dredging needs.
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