Water feature maintenance involves several weekly tasks as well as some yearly maintenance. Most water fall projects will require a spring start-up to get the water feature ready for action. During a spring start-up water is usually drained from the feature to allow for cleaning. Power washing algae off rocks is an easy way to freshen up your project. After your spring water feature maintenance is completed, consider adding pond foam to gaps in the feature to improve its overall look. Removing leaves and debris from the feature during water feature maintenance, will improve the water quality once the feature is up and running again. Once the water feature has been cleaned, you can refill the feature with fresh water.
Water feature maintenance should include testing the pH of your water.
It is important to test the pH of the water once the appropriate water level is returned to the feature. Having a high pH will promote algae growth in your water feature. You can test the pH of your water by using a paper test strip. These strips can be found at most pet stores or specialty pond stores. The optimal range of pH should be around 7.0 to 7.5. If your pH is higher than this, you will need to add chemicals to lower the pH of your water. When adding chemicals to water features that contain koi and plant material, make sure that you use specialty chemicals that are safe for these types of applications. It is also important to add frequent small does of chemical over an extended period of time instead of shocking the koi and plants. Make sure to read your product label and follow its instructions.
Adding an algae treatments to your water feature on a weekly basis will help keep your water clear and free from algae growth. Most algae treatments are safe to use on features containing koi and algae treatments, but again make sure to read the product label. Algae treatments will kill off the algae growth in your feature requiring you to clean your filters more frequently.
For more information on algae identification click here.
For information on winterizing your feature click here.