Pond (large) construction
Discussion
Does anyone have any experience in building large ponds?
I am just about to have planning passed to make a 0.4 acre pond in a 1 acre field at the side of my house which I have recently bought. I have dug test pits as deep as I can by hand and it just pure clay and percolation tests have shown very low rates of percolation. The pond will be about 6ft deep and be designed with coarse fishing in mind.
My worry is as it is going to be a pond filled by rainwater and surface run off only, will there be a sufficient amount of rain to fill it and keep it filled and will I need to put in some form of drainage such as a monk or a standpipe to stop it overflowing at times of heavy rain and snow melt.
As I am in Scotland and have to get a license to stock non native coarse fish it is beneficial if I do not have an overflow link to the little burn at the bottom and wondering if percolation through the topsoil will be great enough to cope with any excess water. The only thing is if I don't build in a standpipe at the start it will be far harder to make one after the pond is finished and filled.
Hoping the digger driver will arrive in the next week or so to start and need to make some decisions quite quickly. Was also thinking about putting a pond building diary on here with photos if anyone was interested.
I am just about to have planning passed to make a 0.4 acre pond in a 1 acre field at the side of my house which I have recently bought. I have dug test pits as deep as I can by hand and it just pure clay and percolation tests have shown very low rates of percolation. The pond will be about 6ft deep and be designed with coarse fishing in mind.
My worry is as it is going to be a pond filled by rainwater and surface run off only, will there be a sufficient amount of rain to fill it and keep it filled and will I need to put in some form of drainage such as a monk or a standpipe to stop it overflowing at times of heavy rain and snow melt.
As I am in Scotland and have to get a license to stock non native coarse fish it is beneficial if I do not have an overflow link to the little burn at the bottom and wondering if percolation through the topsoil will be great enough to cope with any excess water. The only thing is if I don't build in a standpipe at the start it will be far harder to make one after the pond is finished and filled.
Hoping the digger driver will arrive in the next week or so to start and need to make some decisions quite quickly. Was also thinking about putting a pond building diary on here with photos if anyone was interested.
Cheers for the responses looks like some people on here have some experience which is what I was hoping. Below is the field and I own up to the tree on the far side, I have a fence installed now but no photo at the moment.
And below is the plan for the pond although I think the shape will change a bit from this depending on how things go with the digging. The small pond is going to be a wildlife pond without any fish in it and be a lot shallower. I plan to pump water from the main pond up to this and then let it flow back down a stone lined waterfall. The top pond will be circa 6' above the main pond.
The field itself is pure clay so I was hoping, this being the case that I would not have to puddle it as well but maybe I do. For around 6 months of the year there is a constant large puddle in the centre of the field and it is completely water logged which gave me the idea for the pond in the first place. The test pit that I dug a couple of weekends ago had dropped about 20cm, however we have had quite a lot of rain for the past couple of days and even though it was covered up with a board it completely filled again and actually spilling out over the top. This makes me think that a stand pipe overflow would have to be installed. I see someone mentioned a spill way but I cannot use this as whatever I have will have to be fully screened to ensure that none of the fish or fry could escape.
As for fish size there are plenty of 1/3 acre ponds around with 20lb plus Carp in it which is what I'd be hoping for eventually.
And below is the plan for the pond although I think the shape will change a bit from this depending on how things go with the digging. The small pond is going to be a wildlife pond without any fish in it and be a lot shallower. I plan to pump water from the main pond up to this and then let it flow back down a stone lined waterfall. The top pond will be circa 6' above the main pond.
The field itself is pure clay so I was hoping, this being the case that I would not have to puddle it as well but maybe I do. For around 6 months of the year there is a constant large puddle in the centre of the field and it is completely water logged which gave me the idea for the pond in the first place. The test pit that I dug a couple of weekends ago had dropped about 20cm, however we have had quite a lot of rain for the past couple of days and even though it was covered up with a board it completely filled again and actually spilling out over the top. This makes me think that a stand pipe overflow would have to be installed. I see someone mentioned a spill way but I cannot use this as whatever I have will have to be fully screened to ensure that none of the fish or fry could escape.
As for fish size there are plenty of 1/3 acre ponds around with 20lb plus Carp in it which is what I'd be hoping for eventually.
I'm hoping to lose most of it on site by raising the Northern part substantially and flattening it out. I'll loose some more around the site and any remainder will have to get trucked out, I'm hoping this will be minimal as it starts to get expensive otherwise.
Pond depth will be 6' but will have 1m wide shelf round the whole pond with a depth of 2' and an island so spoil should not be as much as it initially looks.
Got to remember to install the intercom system so I can buzz the wife and get her to bring a brew out whilst I'm fishing.
Pond depth will be 6' but will have 1m wide shelf round the whole pond with a depth of 2' and an island so spoil should not be as much as it initially looks.
Got to remember to install the intercom system so I can buzz the wife and get her to bring a brew out whilst I'm fishing.
Ade cheers for those photos they are good. A couple of questions for you.
How much did the level drop during that dry spell before you topped it up? Also have you got any run off at all, does the water level ever come over the top of the pond in times of heavy rain?
As for 2000 fish in there, it could well be true, the recommended stocking rate is around 4-500lb of fish per acre of water, this if for a rarely fished pond with little extra food going in. Some of the commercial waters are stocked at close to 2000lb of fish/acre and they purely survive due to the quantity of anglers baits going in.
M3 sounds like you had good fun digging that one, don't think there would ever be a shortage of water on a site like that either by the sounds of it.
How much did the level drop during that dry spell before you topped it up? Also have you got any run off at all, does the water level ever come over the top of the pond in times of heavy rain?
As for 2000 fish in there, it could well be true, the recommended stocking rate is around 4-500lb of fish per acre of water, this if for a rarely fished pond with little extra food going in. Some of the commercial waters are stocked at close to 2000lb of fish/acre and they purely survive due to the quantity of anglers baits going in.
M3 sounds like you had good fun digging that one, don't think there would ever be a shortage of water on a site like that either by the sounds of it.
Right, thanks Ade, that standpipe arrangement is what I'm planning with a filter over the top to stop any possible escapees. A 6" drop does not seem to bad at all for the length of dry spell that we had although you have a much larger slope to harvest surface run off from then I will have.
Nice looking pond by the way, sure your friends will catch a few if it has not been fished for a long time they will not be hook shy. If it was stocked with Carp 10 years ago you could have some seriously large fish in there as well.
Nice looking pond by the way, sure your friends will catch a few if it has not been fished for a long time they will not be hook shy. If it was stocked with Carp 10 years ago you could have some seriously large fish in there as well.
OK, finally going to get started with this pond next week, its taken a bit longer than expected to get going.
A few questions people may be able to advise on:
Need to order a pump to pump water from the main pond up to the header pond to then flow back down the waterfall. Can anyone recommend any manufacturers to use or stay away from? Also planning to use a submersible pump however wondered if I'd be better using a surface pump even though it will be more hassle to install. This pump will be running continuously and have to flow around 8000l/hr at a 2m head. Planning to install a 1 1/2" pipe.
Will I be to late in 2 weeks time or so to plant pond plants bearing in mind I'm in Northern Scotland or should I just wait till Spring.
Hoping to put at least an initial stocking of fish in this Winter, would this be to early seeing that the pond will have only had a few months to stabilise and come to life?
The planting of the hedge and trees will happen over Winter as this is the best time, although I guess I will be to late to seed the rest of the area with meadow seeds now.
Anyone ever come across filters suitable to install on the top of a standpipe overflow so that it satisfies the fish licensing people that there is no chance the fish can escape into the watercourse?
No doubt there will be more questions to follow as work starts but hopefully not how to do you recover a 12Te slew digger from the mud!
A few questions people may be able to advise on:
Need to order a pump to pump water from the main pond up to the header pond to then flow back down the waterfall. Can anyone recommend any manufacturers to use or stay away from? Also planning to use a submersible pump however wondered if I'd be better using a surface pump even though it will be more hassle to install. This pump will be running continuously and have to flow around 8000l/hr at a 2m head. Planning to install a 1 1/2" pipe.
Will I be to late in 2 weeks time or so to plant pond plants bearing in mind I'm in Northern Scotland or should I just wait till Spring.
Hoping to put at least an initial stocking of fish in this Winter, would this be to early seeing that the pond will have only had a few months to stabilise and come to life?
The planting of the hedge and trees will happen over Winter as this is the best time, although I guess I will be to late to seed the rest of the area with meadow seeds now.
Anyone ever come across filters suitable to install on the top of a standpipe overflow so that it satisfies the fish licensing people that there is no chance the fish can escape into the watercourse?
No doubt there will be more questions to follow as work starts but hopefully not how to do you recover a 12Te slew digger from the mud!
Here are a few photos taken once I've got home, it amazing how much earth is produced and a bit worried that not all of it will be able to be redistributed around the site. There is around 600Te of topsoil been moved into the neighbouring farmers field and that was just 1 foot of topsoil from the pond area. There is still 4 foot of clay to go.
View from the road
View from old railway line
Kids getting stuck in and helping of sorts.
In case anyone is wondering this is only a rough shape of the pond and it should get more defined and a bit curvier over the next few days it won't be left a rectangle. Tomorrow will mainly be spent however spreading the soil out over the field so that the farmer can get in and plough so probably not to many exciting updates tomorrow.
View from the road
View from old railway line
Kids getting stuck in and helping of sorts.
In case anyone is wondering this is only a rough shape of the pond and it should get more defined and a bit curvier over the next few days it won't be left a rectangle. Tomorrow will mainly be spent however spreading the soil out over the field so that the farmer can get in and plough so probably not to many exciting updates tomorrow.
I'd love to get a go in the digger but not sure I'll manage. Cannot get any time off work at the moment due to being flat out and I'm away this weekend on my brothers stagger, typically everything happens at once.
It should be around 0.4 acres with a depth around 2m, so allowing for the island, sloping sides and shelf I guess it will have around 3000m3 of water in it. Before I left for work this morning we dug a test pit to full depth to check that the clay does extend to depth and it does which is a bonus. Water was actually starting to pool in the hole as well so looks like the water table is fairly high.
Planting I'm really not sure about as yet, still need to research exactly what to plant, I think it will be to late to put anything in this year though so will probably have to leave it till Spring.
Planning to seed the area with a wildflower meadow once all the work is done and plant a wildlife hedge (60% Hawthorn + 5 other species) along the fence line along with the odd hedge trees over winter.
Hopefully will get an initial stocking of fish in this Winter however need to get the licenses in place first which by all accounts does not sound that straight forward in Scotland.
It should be around 0.4 acres with a depth around 2m, so allowing for the island, sloping sides and shelf I guess it will have around 3000m3 of water in it. Before I left for work this morning we dug a test pit to full depth to check that the clay does extend to depth and it does which is a bonus. Water was actually starting to pool in the hole as well so looks like the water table is fairly high.
Planting I'm really not sure about as yet, still need to research exactly what to plant, I think it will be to late to put anything in this year though so will probably have to leave it till Spring.
Planning to seed the area with a wildflower meadow once all the work is done and plant a wildlife hedge (60% Hawthorn + 5 other species) along the fence line along with the odd hedge trees over winter.
Hopefully will get an initial stocking of fish in this Winter however need to get the licenses in place first which by all accounts does not sound that straight forward in Scotland.
Quick update, got the island fully shaped last night, all the topsoil in the field has been compacted ready for ploughing by the farmer and the pond has had a section dug to depth around the far side of the Island. The good news is that after cutting through a field drain water is pouring out so there should be no problem keeping the pond full and filling it however it may make digging more difficult. The bad news is the amount of spoil is huge.
Apologies for the poor photos these are off my phone, more to follow tonight.
Apologies for the poor photos these are off my phone, more to follow tonight.
I just asked if he would mind taking some, there is a bit of a low spot in his field there so it has helped him out. Really good timing as there is only a week between him harvesting the field and then ploughing it and planting winter barley.
Andy, thanks for the comments, coarse fish are a little different though as they thrive in coloured water and are also much more tolerant of low oxygen levels.
Andy, thanks for the comments, coarse fish are a little different though as they thrive in coloured water and are also much more tolerant of low oxygen levels.
A quick update at the end of day 3, quite a lot done now, down to 6' and the shape is starting to get there. Still probably only about 20% complete however.
I know what you are saying about bank erosion, mine is a lot smaller though so doubt there will be many waves on it, also plan to plant it heavily with marginal plants so it should protect it a lot.
Away for a stag weekend in the morning so no further updates until Sunday, hopefully will be quite a lot of progress by then if the weather holds up.
I know what you are saying about bank erosion, mine is a lot smaller though so doubt there will be many waves on it, also plan to plant it heavily with marginal plants so it should protect it a lot.
Away for a stag weekend in the morning so no further updates until Sunday, hopefully will be quite a lot of progress by then if the weather holds up.
Well after a weekend away they got a lot done on the Friday with probably around 50% of the digging completed. Unfortuantely it has rained non stop since Friday night and the field now resembles the Somme. The pond has also filled near enough to the top which I'm amazed at. My one worry was that there I would not be able to fill the pond and keep it full, I don't now think will be an issue now however.
I took that photo last night and the water level is another 6" high this morning. Not sure what we are going to do now, guessing they will have to wait a good while for the site to dry before they can start again and I'll have to hire a pump to pump all the water out before we continue.
I took that photo last night and the water level is another 6" high this morning. Not sure what we are going to do now, guessing they will have to wait a good while for the site to dry before they can start again and I'll have to hire a pump to pump all the water out before we continue.
Thanks Gimp (I won't ask where the name comes from). Planned to be kept filled by a combination of groundwater and surface run off. Water being muddy should not be a problem, coarse fish do not seem to mind and most waters with coarse fish end up coloured anyway due to the activity of the fish feeding.
The pond is dug into the original field level and not elevated so it cannot make any existing drainage problems worse for him. None of his field drains were working anyway and were all crushed.
Once the site is finished it will all gradually slope towards the pond so should prevent waterlogging and aid keeping it full.
As for needing a running water coarse the vast majority of ponds that I have fished before do not have this and as it is solid clay and virtually impermeable it should stay full. During long dry periods (North Scotland remember so not very often) the level will drop slightly due to evaporation but should not be to much to worry about.
Could be wrong though, time will tell.
Once the site is finished it will all gradually slope towards the pond so should prevent waterlogging and aid keeping it full.
As for needing a running water coarse the vast majority of ponds that I have fished before do not have this and as it is solid clay and virtually impermeable it should stay full. During long dry periods (North Scotland remember so not very often) the level will drop slightly due to evaporation but should not be to much to worry about.
Could be wrong though, time will tell.
That photo might be a bit misleading, if you look at the filled up bit of the pond the stepped area is a shelf that will be under water by about 12" so the really soggy bit you can see on the photo is also this shelf level. You can just see on the right hand side of the photo the line of the bank which is a good bit higher. Think it will be ok.
There is also going to be a stand pipe overflow arrangement to set the level of the pond at the desired height with any overflow going into the burn at the bottom corner of the field.
There is also going to be a stand pipe overflow arrangement to set the level of the pond at the desired height with any overflow going into the burn at the bottom corner of the field.
dickymint said:
cerbfan said:
There is also going to be a stand pipe overflow arrangement to set the level of the pond at the desired height with any overflow going into the burn at the bottom corner of the field.
Got it now - It's go to go somewhere 
PS. Found this site. May be of use............
http://www.pondconservation.org.uk/advice/fundingf...
PPS. Did you need planning?
I did have to get planning permission due to size and proximity to the road. Plus it was tied into planning for a large extension that will be hopefully be done in the next couple of years or so.
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