Pond duckweed removal with shredder pump

[@W94urndks9urneos]

Opening that valve all the way and just setting up a silt net in front of the tote would stop the duck weed but let the water flow back into the pond.

[@amos3three941]

I know this is old video, but that seems to be more like watermeal. Duckweed has 4 leaves and look like a 4 leaf cover, but is rounder. Watermeal reproduces itself ever 24 hours and thrives once the weather gets above about 55 degrees and dies out in the fall when it drops below that. It is the smaller plant in the world and on bigger than this o and this is a little larger. I have tried cutting my grass and running the water through a large container and it catches most of the watermeal and is almost impossible to keep under control but I keep trying. Expensive fluridone is a Herbicide and expensive, I may try that next year, duck will eat it and wild duck can spread it to the next water it lands in. It worse than having a relative that keeps coming to visit every year and always over stayes their welcome. Once you get it in your pond, you will surely agree.

[@thedamlodgebloodhounds3253]

You can remove the tote bladder and replace it with a DeWatering Super Sack.

[@JoelGaeddert]

That’s a good idea. I’ll have to look for one of those next time if I have to do it again. So far it’s stayed clear!

[@meangrean]

How the hell are you going to get the duckweed out of the tote?

[@RiverdanceFarms]

Open the bottom valve, and chase it out with a water hose. We use duckweed to make compost and feed plants on our organic farm.

[@deborahlong4417]

What size was the pump? Thanks.

[@jamesbowman1767]

Just put an overflow in at the top using some schedule 40 and let the water flow back into the pond when the little holes can't drain fast enough.

[@JoelGaeddert]

That’s a great idea-thanks for sharing!

[@chriskwakernaat2328]

a floating boom kind of thing , you can use that to pull the duckweed to the pump. if this needs done often , i'd remove the ibc and use the frame and close it with a fine stainless mesh. that way you can clean the mesh out when you store the thing for later. (and you can scoop out the duckweed..)

[@jamielandis4606]

Drill holes at the waterline maybe? Above the layer of duck weed.

[@JoelGaeddert]

Thanks for the suggestion--it's a good thought. The duckweed pretty much sits right on top of the water so it's quite hard to do! If I had to do it again I think I’d sew a big net bag that could just sit in the pond. So you'd basically have a recirculating pump with a filter all within the water, rather than trying to use a rigid material to strain it out on the bank.

[@wyatts.1726]

Cutting slits in the sides of the tote and mounting screen material on the inside to allow more water to flow out faster. This would require removing rhe top of the IBC tote. But once in place you can run a squege along the screen to clear it.

[@lakeguy65616]

Isn't the tank filling faster than its draining?

[@bagermaster-club]

To keep the lake clean, it must be regularly cleaned of silt and algae. This can be done with a dirty water motor pump and a Bagermaster suction nozzle.

[@EffpeeEffpee]

Try this, take the tank out of the frame, replace it with a 1 ton bulk builders bag fasten all the corners up then place something in the bottom to stop the water hitting the bag directly, you do not want the weave of the bag from opening from the water pressure, then start your pump up the water will pass through the weave of the bag leaving the duckweed in the bag.

[@ericlevchuk5176]

Where did u buy the pump

[@JoelGaeddert]

Ordered it from the Northern Tool website: m.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200329149_200329149. 1HP shredder pump, 7,200 GPH, 2in ports.

[@Drifter0001]

Put some goldfish in there, or grass carp or tilapia, they gulp that stuff up.

[@W94urndks9urneos]

Plus you are eroding the bank of the pond which just sends the dirt into the pond which fills the pond up with dirt.

[@danielwoolman8969]

Thinned out won’t stay thin for long. This stuff rapidly spreads.

[@rb-today]

I believe you need to put a little more forethought into this project. Removing the duckweed is great but the downstream process leaves a lot to be desired. The other comments tell of several ways to deal with the dewatering of the duckweed. You are refilling your pond with mud from the water runoff. Trading one problem for another. I use an inclined screen to dewater and collect the duckweed for a nearby pig rancher. We trade duckweed for pork chops!

[@BWCA-vy2pi]

If you need to ever do this again you should try to make a skimmer like this. kzbin.info/www/bejne/m5W9pH6VYpmrZq8 we have one and it works great. I have the same problem that you have. What to do with it after you take it off the pond. I was thinking of making something like this out of a slide and aluminum screen. kzbin.info/www/bejne/kHKtl6tjlslsi8k I was going to try what you did with the 275 gal tote. Do you think the tote idea would work if you close the ball valve until you have about twelve inches of water in it and then open the valve to match the flow of the pump. It seems like by doing this the duck weed would float on top of the water and only water would come out of the ball valve since it is located on the bottom of the tote?

[@JoelGaeddert]

Thanks for sharing these links! If you put the skimmer with the slide / screen idea you’d have a heck of a system! I tried to open the ball valve after there was water in the tote, but the pump was dumping so much water and shredded duckweed and making the water so turbulent that everything was just mixed together-the duckweed wasn’t floating cleanly while the pump was running. Right now the pond is totally free of duckweed and I’m hoping the grass carp will keep it under control. But if I have to do this again next year I will definitely try something along the lines of the slide and screen idea. That looks like it would work well!

[@BWCA-vy2pi]

@@JoelGaeddert Good to know. That information will save me from trying that idea. If I need to do it next year I'm going to make a screen slide and have the water fall into a tote with the top cut off.

[@feras5017]

Looks highly inefficient