Common Pond Emergencies and Their Solutions Part 2 – Technical Failures

Technical emergencies are not uncommon and are destined to occur every once in a while. From malfunction to clogging or electricity problems, at one point you will have to face a technical emergency in order to avoid further damage to your equipment and pond.

Common Pond Emergencies and Their Solutions

Pond Equipment Failure

Nothing lasts forever despite our best efforts to maintain the condition of our pond’s equipment. Eventually, a part will fail. It can be anything from filters to pumps, additional accessories like skimmers, or even UV light bulbs. Both mechanical and biological pond equipment can stop working at any given time, which can cause serious damage if overseen or left unattended for too long.

Without the biological pond filtration, you risk the chemical balance of your pond and hence the life of your Koi or other pond fish. Even without any broken mechanical parts, you may face any number of unexpected difficulties and a chain reaction or malfunctioning equipment is not off the list.

Your best option is having spare parts around and to quickly change the failing equipment. However, if you do not, contact your local pond maintenance and repair company as soon as possible.

Clogged Pond Filters and Pumps

How does a filter become clogged? It is actually a technical emergency caused when you occasionally forget to check and clean the filter. This is a dangerous thing to forget, as the filter controls the water’s quality. The filtration of a pond is primary, and with a clogged filter you are facing the danger of “poisoning” the water. To prevent this from happening regularly check your filter and change the media.

The Pump is the heart and soul of your pond’s system. A clogged pond pump is a serious problem that will leave your pond without fresh and oxygenated water, and the result of that is lethal to the pond’s wildlife. There are numerous reasons that may cause your pond to clog, and here are the most common ones:

1. Water shortage: Water shortage can be caused by debris or other solid particles but also from simply forgetting to add water.
2. Air: If your pump has sucked in some air, the air will get stuck and there you go – a clogged pump.
3. Clogged pipes: You may think your pump is clogged when in fact there is some large piece of stones, wood, or other hard debris that has gone through the skimmer and is clogging the pipes.
4. Faulty electricity: The electricity setup is not functioning right or at all.
5. Operational errors: Different parts of the pumping system are not operating.

If the case that debris are lodged, cleaning the pumping system for it will do the trick. If it is a problem with the electricity set up, the first option is to check if all is set right, adjust and restart it. If none of these help, we advise you to contact your pond equipment dealer or local pond maintenance team.

Power Outage

Electricity is needless to say essential for the water circulation and pond filtration systems to work. What happens if there is a long power outage, do you know what steps you should you take to maintain your pond?

Pollution and lack of oxygen are the two main dangers to your pond’s wildlife. You should stop feeding your fish up until the electricity is back. Fish can survive without food for a really long time, however, do consult with your Koi fish dealer as season and Koi size do matter. You will also have to prepare yourself for cleaning duty, as you will have to remove any decaying matter and debris.

The regular countermeasures you should take to avoid your equipment from burning up when electricity surges is to install a breaker mechanism or unplug the equipment. If you expect the power outage to be longer it would be best to invest in a backup power source like a UPS or Power Generator.

Pond Leaking

A leaking pond is a very common pond problem when the construction was not professionally done and capable of withstanding seismic activity. The pond’s sturdy construction is more than important and we will always advise you to reach out to expert pond designers and contractors in order to have a quality pond construction that is appropriate with your region and landscape. The other culprit that can damage the pond could be an animal that has dug up a hole.

However, if your pond happens to have leaks, here are few tips on how to find and patch them up.

Step one is determining the source of leaking and figuring out why the pond’s water level is dropping drastically. First, you will need to turn off the pond water pump. If the level of water continues to decrease then the problem is in the pond’s basin. If the water level stays the same then the leakage is a result of a plumbing problem.

You may be wondering, what should I do if it is a plumbing problem? Check out the entire system, every joint, skimmer, pipe, the liner, and the area around the pond’s plumbing system for wet marks and puddles. Check the waterfall if you have any, search for clogging in the water circulation due to plant roots, debris, rocks or any other hard particulates and materials. Fix the leakage by adjusting or changing the problematic equipment or part.

What if it the pond’s basin is leaking? For this, you want to remove your fish and plants, especially if the water is reaching dangerously low levels, and put them in the quarantine tank until pond repair is finalized.

Inspect the pond’s liner for any obstructions with the placement of rocks or plants, and if you do not find any, wait for the pond to become shallow enough to see if there is a hole. You could also use milk or food-grade dye and sprinkle it on the water, it will get sucked in quickly where the hole is.  If there is a misplacement with the pond’s liner, adjust it as it should be.

If there is a hole in the basin, you will have to patch it up or call a pond maintenance service company to fix it for you. To repair and patch up a hole in the pond’s basin or liner you can follow these steps:

1. Drain the pond dry and scrub clean the surface using the appropriate materials in order to remove any organic or contaminant matter.
2. Apply an adhesive compound following the manufacturer’s instructions.
3. Press the patch on the hole, making sure it is nicely stuck and has no air bubbles or wrinkles. Follow the manufacturers’ instructions.
4. Leave the patch and adhesive to dry for the next 24 hours (or as written in instructions) before you fill the pond again.

Return your fish back into the pond together with the water they were kept in. If needed make a refill with more treated water slowly following standard procedure for water change and refill. Check the chemical balance and temperature to make sure that there are no sudden changes and act accordingly.