Filling in a Pond

northwest1965

We're looking at buying a house. It has a small pond in the rear garden which would need filling in. Has anyone done this, is it a big job to do?

Hintza

Piece of cake with a digger, harder by hand.

Knock the walls down and level them if shallow enough just add some topsoil (you might want some rubble if it is still too deep).

You need to knock the walls down to ensure you don't end up with a muddy hole because the water can't escape. If it has a lining obviously remove it first.

busy-bee

It depends what you call small, its not really hard, just dirty. Empty the pond, remove any electrical equipment/pipework then remove the top stones holding the liner down, these could be cemented down so break with a sledgehammer. Then you should be able to see the end of the liner, this can either be a preformed or a butyl liner, take out the liner and using a fork break up the soil that has been under the pond to allow the water to drain. Back fill the hole with soil, many contractors have soil to dispose of cheap, leave it to settle and top up as required.
Rubble and preformed liner can be recycled!

drummer_666

I see lots of top soil on freecycle

spadoosh

As above, back fill with top soil and hardcore.

Why get rid though? Theyre great for the wildlife and england is struggling for 'clean' (read not polluted by industrial waste and sewerage) ponds as it is. The pond society (dont think there called that but something similar) are trying to get 000's of new clean ponds built to help the environment. Could be worth keeping?!

maninthestreet

spadoosh wrote: »

As above, back fill with top soil and hardcore.

Why get rid though? Theyre great for the wildlife and england is struggling for 'clean' (read not polluted by industrial waste and sewerage) ponds as it is. The pond society (dont think there called that but something similar) are trying to get 000's of new clean ponds built to help the environment. Could be worth keeping?!

If you have small children, a pond, even a small one, can be a death trap.