Duck pond withhand pump

[diosa]

Hey everyone,
I would like to share my pond and pump system with you.

I have had this system going for over 6mths now and it works awesome. I got a 150 gallon pond liner for cheap on Craigslis and built a wooden frame for it to have above ground so the ducks don't dabble all their food and mud in it. There is a step and a ramp to get in and out. For cleaning it I empty it with this gudcraft manual pump I got from Amazon for about $40.

So I use a net to scoop any sticks or feathers off the top. Pump the water down to a couple of inches. Tip the pond on an angle and pump a bit more. Then scrub the algae and dump the last bit out and refill. It takes about 20minutes to pump the water out and maybe an hour Max for the whole process. The pond hose is tied to a long stick to hold it still and under the water while I pump and the outlet hose can be used to water the garden in summer or run out to the drainage ditch in the winter. The only thing that has ever been a problem is a stick got caught in the valves but its easy to unscrew the pump to get it out. And it stops working if you get a bunch of air in, that's why I use the stick to hold it on the bottom of the pond. I did have 4 ducks in there with no problems and now have 2. It works awesome, is super cheap and no power required.
Happy ducking!!!

 

[Amiga]

I love this! A question I ask myself regularly is, how can I do this without electricity? In the five plus years we have had our Runners, we have lost electricity for days on end twice that I can think of.

By the way, I use the term electricity instead of power, because, hey, people still have power without electricity. Brain power, muscle power, will power, you get the idea.

We use concrete mixing pans for swim pans, and when I have to put one where I cannot just dump it, I have a Thirsty Mate pump that I use. Five minutes of easy pumping and the pan is empty.