Three Reasons to Dredge Your Pond This Spring

Springtime is just around the corner, meaning mild weather, longer days, and green color returning to the landscape. In most countries, spring lasts just a few short weeks before the hot summer months start creeping in. For golf courses, homeowners, organizations, and HOAs, this means a relatively short period to perform much-needed maintenance to ensure the health and longevity of the ponds on their property. If a pond isn't maintained correctly, it can experience nuisance algae outbreaks, fish and wildlife die-offs, and even lower property values as the once crystal-clear water turns a sickly shade of green, and noxious odors start to make their way into the air. Here are four reasons to consider dredging your ponds in the first few weeks of spring 2019 to ensure a healthy and beautiful year-round body of water.

Increase the Size of the Pond

Dredging a pond removes mud, muck, weeds, organic sediment, and trash, all of which can cause it to shrink in size. As the months pass, leaves and other organic sediment get blown into the pond and settle towards the bottom. Most of the organic matter accumulates in the deepest part of the pond. There is little to no oxygen here, which means it cannot support a colony of beneficial bacteria that would typically eat and break down the organic sediment. The result is a massive pile of organic material leeching a lot of nutrients into the water column. These nutrients feed harmful algae and nuisance plants. All it takes is one warm summer day for massive nuisance algae to bloom, which not only looks bad but can create some pretty offensive odors! A professional dredger can remove this organic sediment, and over time, that can help increase the size of the pond.

Remove Nuisance Algae

Have you ever been to a pond that has a nuisance algae outbreak? If not, count your lucky stars. Most nuisance algae outbreaks put off a powerful offensive odor that can lower property values and cause people and animals to steer clear. Removing the organic sediment from the bottom of the pond ensures that the algae don't have a food source, which can cause them to bloom out of control. Fewer algae mean crystal-clear water—and no need to pour toxic anti-algae chemicals into the water, which can kill off fish and other wildlife. Finally, suppose your ponds contain fish or other aquatic water life. In that case, algae suck up precious oxygen and can cause a considerable fish die-off in a matter of hours on a hot summer day. By dredging the pond, you'll remove organic sediment, making your fish (and the people who eat them) very happy.

Increased Property Values

Imagine a golfer who just paid $100 to play 18 holes. How would he react to walking up to the 6th hole and seeing a smelly, ugly, algae-ridden pond? He probably wouldn't be recommending to his friends that they join him for a game of golf at this course anytime soon. The same goes for prospective homeowners. If the HOA isn't dredging and maintaining its ponds, that precious water view becomes a murky swamp. If an algae outbreak occurs, the noxious odors can waft into the house through the most minor crack in the windows. By having their ponds dredged, the golf course or Homeowners' Association will ensure that the property values of homes built nearby will remain stable. Dredging a pond can also save precious time and money. The maintenance staff usually has a laundry list of maintenance items to attend to—having to run to Home Depot to grab a few bags of potentially toxic algae removal chemicals and then administer them to the water costs both time and money.

Save Money

If a nuisance algae outbreak occurs or if the pond starts getting cluttered with weeds, chemicals alone may not fix the problem. Algae and nuisance weed outbreaks stem from vast piles of organic matter at the bottom of the pond. If no one has dredged the pond in a while, no amount of chemicals will fix the outbreak. At this point, the only thing that will work is an intensive dredging process. By having your ponds dredged twice a year, your golf course or HOA can save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars by not having to buy toxic algae and weed control chemicals.

Nation-Wide Expert Pond Dredgers

At American Underwater Services, we specialize in HOA and golf course pond dredging. We can help you regain control over your ponds and turn them into crystal-clear water havens for fish, animals, and people alike. Call us today at (817) 367-6383 to learn how we can help you. Even though we are based in Fort Worth, we can travel anywhere in the continental U.S. to assist you with your dredging needs.