Duck pond

In the Fall of 2023, we undertook the project of creating a pond for our ducks. It's still an evolving project with tweaks to planting, filtering, etc. We love having a beautiful water feature that the ducks love and supports new wildlife.

A hole in the ground

We dug a hole with tiered sections around the edges and the deepest section in the center. The pond is approximately 12 x 8 feet but is a sort of irregular bean shape. The bare dirt was covered with a thin layer of sand to protect the liner from any sharp rocks or roots. You can see a second deep hole on the right which holds the pump.

The Pond liner

We used an EPDM liner for the main pond and pump intake bay. This type of liner is made from 45 mil rubber and is made to last a very long time. It is also very durable against tears or punctures. You can see a trash can sitting at the head of the pond. This will be the location of the bog filter and the waterfall feature.

The bog filter

A bog filter is a type of filter that pushes water slowly through layers of rocks and plant life in order to filter out sediment and are based on some of the same principles as a bog in nature. We chose to use a rain barrel and placed it at the head of the pond to serve as a reservoir for the 'bog.' Water is pumped from the intake bay at the opposite end of the pond through corrugated tubing and into a PVC pipe. The water is pushed to the bottom of the barrel where it exits the PVC pipe in a Tee fitting. Large rocks are placed at the bottom of the barrel and then smaller and smaller rocks fill the rest until gravel is used for the last 6 inches. Water is slowly forced through the layers of rock until it spills out the top of the barrel and into the waterfall feature. There is a spigot at the bottom of the barrel to allow for periodic clean out of the filter.

The intake bay and pump

A 5 gallon bucket is placed in a hole at the opposite end of the pond from the bog filter and waterfall. This style of pump placement generally pulls the water across the surface and acts as a skimmer (most debris is pulled to the mouth of the intake bay where it can be cleaned out). The depth of the pond is reduced at the mouth of this intake bay to help trap leaves and other large debris. Hole are drilled in the sides of bucket and the bucket is surrounded by gravel. The pump is placed inside and the tubing exits through a hole cut in the bucket's lid. The pump pulls the water through the gravel and through the holes in the side of the bucket and then pumps it over to the bog filter. The intake bay acts as a mini filter in this way. The pump is a 24-volt DC pump. The DC power line can be shallowly-buried.

A rocky bottom

The entire of the pond floor is filled with rocks and gravel. This allows for a great natural look but also provides a vast amount of surface area for microorganisms to grow on - and help keep algae at bay. Most of the rocks were from our yard or found for free on craigslist, etc. I supplemented with some landscaping blocks and gravel bought from local providers.

The waterfall

Building a waterfall feature proved to be the most challenging part of the project. A separate liner was attached to the lip of the bog filter outlet and then the tiered waterfall feature was constructed free-form from large rocks cemented together with pond sealant. Large rocks were sourced from craigslist for free! Aside from the challenge of moving very large rocks, it turned out that constructing a shape that made for a pleasant-looking waterfall while still ferrying the water into the pond (and not around the sides of the barrel) proved to be difficult. The entire waterfall was built from scratch two times and tweaked several more times before it was finished.

Time to add the water

The moment of truth. Will it hold water? Will the pump, filter and waterfall actually work?

The ducks can't wait to take a dip

A waterfall!

Winter freeze

Mature plants and ducklings

Lessons learned and continuing experiments

The good:

We achieved a relatively light-maintenance pond with natural filtering and a natural look that supports plants and attracts wildlife.
The ducks absolutely love the pond and live there most of any hot day.
The filter and waterfall work well enough with little maintenance.

The not-as-good:

The pump-placement and intake bay system does not handle sediment that sinks to the bottom of the pond very well - think pine cones and duck poop. This requires the bottom to be periodically scooped out manually. I may someday add a second pump at the very bottom of the pond (see Tyrant Farms design below).
The netting around the pump needs to be cleaned out regularly to keep good water flow. This is due to some debris getting in around the hole in the top of the bucket lid.
Next time I would be more deliberate in placing large rocks to help keep smaller rocks and gravel from slowly slipping into the middle/bottom of the pond.

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Special Thanks

The following sites were invaluable in the planning of the duck pond.

Tyrant Farms: How to build a backyard pond with a DIY biofilter
https://www.tyrantfarms.com/how-to-build-a-backyard-pond-with-diy-biofilter/
Ozponds (the whole site and all his videos)
https://ozponds.com/

And I couldn't have done all the hard work without Ramona Street Art Farm's best building buddy, Ben Kates!

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