Pond maintenance, for a really big pond
July 1, 2022 5:01 PM Subscribe
The fiancé and I are looking to buy a place, and this house seems promising. There is a pretty sizeable pond on the property. What kind of upkeep is needed, and about how much does it cost? Googling is getting me answers for small landscape ponds, this is substantially bigger.
Here is a Google Maps satellite view of said pond, with the map scale thing. I roughly measured the non-hypotenuse sides as 150' x 200' , which according to the internet is 15,000 Sq feet (?!?). Regardless of my math calculations, the care and upkeep is different than a small yard pond. Do you have something similar? How expensive and/or a pain in the butt to take care of is it?
If it matters, this is in the Chicagoland area.
Here is a Google Maps satellite view of said pond, with the map scale thing. I roughly measured the non-hypotenuse sides as 150' x 200' , which according to the internet is 15,000 Sq feet (?!?). Regardless of my math calculations, the care and upkeep is different than a small yard pond. Do you have something similar? How expensive and/or a pain in the butt to take care of is it?
If it matters, this is in the Chicagoland area.
Response by poster: That is a great idea -- our agent is reaching out to the current owner for information.
posted by Sparky Buttons at 7:02 PM on July 1, 2022
posted by Sparky Buttons at 7:02 PM on July 1, 2022
In rural Australia, we'd call that a dam. Not usually on a river, it's a big hole farmers make to store water for crops or livestock. Sometimes they put yabbies in for the kids to catch.
posted by b33j at 8:20 PM on July 1, 2022
posted by b33j at 8:20 PM on July 1, 2022
It looks like it's adjacent to some natural wetlands to the east. My guess is the pond is mostly natural and is probably a sectioned-off portion of those wetlands, possibly dredged out somewhat to make it a bit deeper. I'd also guess the water table is fairly high here and the pond's water level is probably largely dependent on that.
It may be fairly low-maintenance if it's mostly a natural feature. My main concern would be to avoid putting fertilizer on that big lawn. Nitrogen- and phosphorus-rich runoff leads to smelly algae blooms that will suffocate other aquatic life. Also be careful what herbicides and pesticides you use around the house that may affect life in the pond (as well as in the adjacent wetlands).
posted by theory at 9:05 PM on July 1, 2022 [5 favorites]
It may be fairly low-maintenance if it's mostly a natural feature. My main concern would be to avoid putting fertilizer on that big lawn. Nitrogen- and phosphorus-rich runoff leads to smelly algae blooms that will suffocate other aquatic life. Also be careful what herbicides and pesticides you use around the house that may affect life in the pond (as well as in the adjacent wetlands).
posted by theory at 9:05 PM on July 1, 2022 [5 favorites]
You will want to read up on pond ecology and law. Fish need water at appropriate depth and temperature per species, and the will be rules against introducing non-native species. And of late, I've seen several mentions of snapping turtles for some reason.
I'm pretty sure the faster the throughput of water, the easier it is to keep, and the more stagnant, the more difficult.
posted by SemiSalt at 4:47 AM on July 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
I'm pretty sure the faster the throughput of water, the easier it is to keep, and the more stagnant, the more difficult.
posted by SemiSalt at 4:47 AM on July 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
Does the pond mean the area is prone to flooding? That's what I'd be worried about.
posted by emd3737 at 5:00 AM on July 2, 2022
posted by emd3737 at 5:00 AM on July 2, 2022
This looks like a relatively new development. There should be recent records filed with various local government offices. I would guess that the pond was built to drain a larger area. If the house has been on the market for a while this pond is probably the reason. I'd be worried about flooding and about liability issues. The neighbors are close enough that their runoff would affect the pond even if you don't use fertilizers and pesticides. I'd give it a pass unless it's on a hill and higher than all the other houses and the woods above are in some kind of conservation.
posted by mareli at 5:37 AM on July 2, 2022
posted by mareli at 5:37 AM on July 2, 2022
If you want to check out flood risk, this website has pretty good estimates that also look forward 30 years given climate change.
posted by pinochiette at 6:45 AM on July 2, 2022
posted by pinochiette at 6:45 AM on July 2, 2022
Our property has a large pond and we love it. Ours is basically zero maintenance but YMMV.
I'd start with your local county extension office and your dept. of environmental conservation (DEC) for info about pond maintenance in your area. Some things to know:
Flooding isn't a concern if it has a good outlet. Ours catches runoff from the woods, and drains off onto the neighbor's land (and eventually a creek). It gets low in midsummer in dry years, but never overflows. Check your inlet sources and outlet.
How deep is it? Are the sides straight down or sloping? Shallow ponds or ponds with gently sloping edges are prone take-over by cattails, which are very hard to eradicate. You can leave them if you like them. Or introduce grass carp, which your DEC may regulate.
We do get agricultural runoff which can cause an algae bloom, which can smell as the algae die off. A bale of barley straw floating in it inhibits algae growth (and makes a nice turtle raft).
Other than the annual bale of straw, we just let nature do its thing. We have put native fish in some years, but they ended up being mink food. It was fun having a mink. We have loads of frogs that attract a variety of herons. We get wood ducks and yes, snapping turtles. You might attract a family of Canada Geese, which can be interesting. We like seeing the gosling parade in the spring, and we don't mind the goose poo.
posted by evilmomlady at 7:25 AM on July 2, 2022 [4 favorites]
I'd start with your local county extension office and your dept. of environmental conservation (DEC) for info about pond maintenance in your area. Some things to know:
Flooding isn't a concern if it has a good outlet. Ours catches runoff from the woods, and drains off onto the neighbor's land (and eventually a creek). It gets low in midsummer in dry years, but never overflows. Check your inlet sources and outlet.
How deep is it? Are the sides straight down or sloping? Shallow ponds or ponds with gently sloping edges are prone take-over by cattails, which are very hard to eradicate. You can leave them if you like them. Or introduce grass carp, which your DEC may regulate.
We do get agricultural runoff which can cause an algae bloom, which can smell as the algae die off. A bale of barley straw floating in it inhibits algae growth (and makes a nice turtle raft).
Other than the annual bale of straw, we just let nature do its thing. We have put native fish in some years, but they ended up being mink food. It was fun having a mink. We have loads of frogs that attract a variety of herons. We get wood ducks and yes, snapping turtles. You might attract a family of Canada Geese, which can be interesting. We like seeing the gosling parade in the spring, and we don't mind the goose poo.
posted by evilmomlady at 7:25 AM on July 2, 2022 [4 favorites]
The more natural it is the less maintenance it is. We have a spring and small stream on our property; we do some weeding and trimming for aesthetic reasons but could easily just do nothing and let it go wild. If yours is man-made or stagnant you’ll have much more work to do.
posted by ook at 8:55 AM on July 2, 2022
posted by ook at 8:55 AM on July 2, 2022
Looking at an expanded Google earth view of that location, it appears that there are at least a half dozen similar ponds in the neighborhood, all pretty clearly man-made and created for the purpose of providing amenities to other homes there. There are also some natural-looking ponds in the area, without homes on them, that are fully or partially covered with algae (ie. they are green in the satellite view). Algae on ponds is a natural thing and not necessarily a problem, but this may indicate that the owners of the man-made ponds are doing some maintenance to keep them clear. You could ask a few of those owners, but I think your real estate agent should ask specifically about the pond maintenance history of the property you're looking at. But as others have said, if it is not stagnant (ie. there is a reasonable flow of water in and out of it) and trees are not allowed to grow and shade it, maintenance will probably be minimal.
posted by beagle at 9:26 AM on July 2, 2022
posted by beagle at 9:26 AM on July 2, 2022
Are you sure the pond would be your responsibility? Depending on the town, it might be the responsibility of the local parks department.
posted by Constance Mirabella at 9:40 AM on July 2, 2022
posted by Constance Mirabella at 9:40 AM on July 2, 2022
Congratulations on your engagement, Sparky Buttons! Please check your memail?
posted by Iris Gambol at 6:14 PM on July 2, 2022
posted by Iris Gambol at 6:14 PM on July 2, 2022
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 5:59 PM on July 1, 2022 [1 favorite]