Activated Carbon
Q: I have brown tea colored water and I can’t seem to get it cleared up. Is there something that will remove color from my water? – Karen of Oklahoma
A: Brown or tea-colored water is generally caused from “tannins” in the water. As leaves or other vegetation accumulate and decay in the water garden, they begin to leech these tannins dying the water a brown or tea-color.
The Solution:
Activated Carbon. Activated Carbon absorbs tannins and other toxins such as chlorine from city water. Place the activated carbon in a fine mesh bag and place in your skimmer or filter box. If you don’t have either of these, simply place it near your pump or in the area of your pond that receives the best circulation. The water must run “through” the carbon to work. Typically 4-6 lbs. will treat 1,000 gallons for 2-3 months.
Pond Netting
Use Pond Neting to stop leafs from discoloring your water and adding muck to the bottom of you pond this fall with a heavy duty leaf net.
Filed under: Water Gardens & Features, Water Quality Issues Tagged: | activated carbon, brown water, carbon, dark water, tea colored water, tea water, tinted water
Toni Hudson,
If you plan to shut-down your water garden, you should drain the water down only to right below the skimmer opening and yes you would want to leave the water in there. The reason for this is to help prevent some shifting within the water garden. The ground will shift throughout the winter and if you were to drain the water garden entirely, it could cause certain sections of the water garden to cave in. Having the water in there will keep everything at bay by applying pressure to all sides.
Keeping a tarp over your water garden will definitely help in keeping certain critters from getting in.
As for your liner, it will be just fine throughout the winter.
A product that I like to use is called Oxy-Lift. It will help remove debris that are attached to any rocks or streams. It makes scrubbing a little bit easier.
This is my first year with a built in pond. my fish are in tanks in the basement for the winter. how do i clean my pond and with what ????? my pond is about 3 feet deep 9×6 feet. i wAS also told to put in about a foot of water. why? and cover for the winter with a tarp. to keep the critters and such out of it. I live in minnesota and it gets waaay below zerro. will anything hurt the liner? it cost a pretty penny. thank you for your help. toni, in mn