Putting in a pond...

[agregg15]

I was thinking about putting in a pond for my duck's new pen. I was planning on using a heavy duty tarp as a liner. Then I would place large flat stones around the edge to act as weights to hold the tarp in place. I was planning on using a piece of pvc pipe as a drain, but the issues with that are that where would it drain (I don't want to upset the DEP and town) and if it became blocked. I know that I could pail the water out into the garden or even use a hose to siphon the water out, but that would be difficult because of the area. I was also considering making it large enough to put in some plants and fish (large enough for the ducks not to eat, small enough for them not to be able to harm/kill a duckling.)I can't get a filter because I'm a little short on money being 15 and not old enough to have a job (not to mention no one is really able to drive me to Home Depot or Walmart to get one due to everyone's busy schedules.) I also don't have running outdoor water which means that I have to carry pails out. I do have a small stream nearby but it's downhill and dries up frequently. Here is my lovely diagram of where my duck pond will be and the stream (pardon my horrible art skills and lack of detail

)

I have a feeling the stream will not help at all.

Does anyone have any tips or can you share your duck ponds with me please. I know that it will probably come down to pailing out the water and refilling it. I know that kiddy pools are the most convenient, but I've always wanted a little pond for my ducks and I'm hoping that I will be able to have fish and plants in (I'm gonna guess that that will be difficult though

,but I'm stubborn like a mule.) Oh yeah I almost forgot one of the most important parts which will be the measurements of 3-4 deep (varying on the rocky soil), 8-10 feet wide and 8-10 feet long. Any help will be appreciated, thanks.

 

[agregg15]

anyone.......................

 

[70%cocoa]

Hi

I'm sure you'll be able to give your ducks swimming water but it might be good to downsize your plans a bit. I am hopeless at maths but I worked out that a pond 8 feet x 8 feet x 3 feet deep is about 1400 gallons of water. That is an awful lot of full pails...

Putting in a drain is a good idea but that might be difficult if you are using a tarp (putting in a drain pipe without it leaking around the join). It is much easier to put in a drain onto a solid surface, like a tub.

So what about just using a shallow but wide tub? I use a stock feed trough that's about 120cm x 50cm x 20cm deep (5 feet x 2 feet and about three-quarters of a foot deep). It holds 60 liters or 15 gallons. I drain it with a bit of 19mm (less than an inch) poly pipe with a valve (tap) about halfway along. Something similar would give your ducks bathing water but it'd still be feasible to refill it with pails (which we call buckets but I am trying to use US terms

).

Where are you planning on draining the water too? One idea might be to make a bog garden (a wetland garden) near your duck pool but a bit downhill that you can drain dirty water into. A bog garden is like a pond but with some holes punched into the pond liner and then filled with dirt and bog loving plants. When you drain your duck pool into it it will fill up but then slowly drain the water away through the bottom. This'll dissipate the water gradually. It'll also be something your ducks love puddling in

Speaking of ducks, I can hear mine demanding to be let out of their house (8am here now) so I'd better go and do that!!

Edited to fix typo....

 

[agregg15]

70%cocoa :

Hi

I'm sure you'll be able to give your ducks swimming water but it might be good to downsize your plans a bit. I am hopeless at maths but I worked out that a pond 8 feet x 8 feet x 3 feet deep is about 1400 gallons of water. That is an awful lot of full pails...

Putting in a drain is a good idea but that might be difficult if you are using a tarp (putting in a drain pipe without it leaking around the join). It is much easier to put in a drain onto a solid surface, like a tub.

So what about just using a shallow but wide tub? I use a stock feed trough that's about 120cm x 50cm x 20cm deep (5 feet x 2 feet and about three-quarters of a foot deep). It holds 60 liters or 15 gallons. I drain it with a bit of 19mm (less than an inch) poly pipe with a valve (tap) about halfway along. Something similar would give your ducks bathing water but it'd still be feasible to refill it with pails (which we call buckets but I am trying to use US terms

).

Where are you planning on draining the water too? One idea might be to make a big garden (a wetland garden) near your duck pool but a bit downhill that you can drain dirty water into. A bog garden is like a pond but with some holes punched into the pond liner and then filled with dirt and bog loving plants. When you drain your duck pool into it it will fill up but then slowly drain the water away through the bottom. This'll dissipate the water gradually. It'll also be something your ducks love puddling in

Speaking of ducks, I can hear mine demanding to be let out of their house (8am here now) so I'd better go and do that!!

Thank you so much for the reply

There is a lot of clay where I live so the tarp is just some "insurance." It's also really wet where I live so the water won't be too hard to get (especially with heavy rains coming after this unbearable dry spell

) The bog garden sounds like a great idea, I'll just have to pass it by my mom. Again thank you so much. It was a big help

 

[TLWR]

If you have a lot of heavy clay, you aren't going to want to dig that. My duck pond is 7x12x1.5 and I had no intentions of digging that much clay, so I built up. Mine is about 900 gallons.
No way would I be hauling pails of water to fill that sucker up and then pail it empty when it needs to be cleaned. And it will need to be cleaned, especially without a decent filter set up.