Pond safety

[Bonnie]

Here's an article by David C. on Pond safety, which is very important...
http://www.watergardenersinternational.org/safety/page1.html

Curious, What measures do you take to make your pond safe for people, pets, etc?

Thanks,
Bonnie

[tinkster]

great question bonnie.. when I was bulding mine I had alot of things I had learned from my small pond that I made sure I took into consideration, but now when I have visitors over with small kids I always worry about could they get hurt... have I thought of everything I could have... Im sure alot here will come up with good safety ideas but heres what I did..

My first small pond was a nightmare for people walking up to the edge and standing on the very end of the rocks which almost always fell into the pond sometimes them with it. On my big pond the lay of the ground worked perfect for the pond to have high berms, most of them are a good 3 ft high then slope very steeply and quickly down to the flagstone patio.  This makes it almost impossible to walk on the edges/berm of my pond especially since its heavily planted and bouldered  .  I made two areas with steps up to a flat area at the edge of the pond for viewing, feeding fish etc.  I used the round landscape timbers drove into the ground there so there would be no rocks to step on and I like the looks of that really well.  I put a dock in on the back ,more level side, to walk out over the pond.. thats kind of a worry for me when kids are there.  it extends out into the pond and they could fall in.

My pets are another big concern.  I had "beaches" in all of the pond the first year in case they fell in they could walk out but I took them out last year and dug it down with no plants ledges but I did leave it about 12" then quickly slope down to 18" to give them a little traction and on the most likely point for them to fall in, I left steps which also helps me getting down into the pond.  I have one doxie with epilepsy and he is always a concern if he would have a seizure and fall in.

My waterfall is way up on a steep bank that you would not believe anybody would be up there on but you let kids come and thats the first place they head and parents never say a thing.. the drop off there is a good 3 or better down onto more rocks. Fortunatley the only area they can get to now is the waterfall plate itself.  I used a huge cut piece of flagstone that is on top of a cemented block wall under the liner.  The plate though is huge and goes back into the stream a good 4 ft then on top of that I build concrete bolders so theres no chance that thing is gonna fall off and into the pond with kids on it.  I also built steps out of rocks and concrete up the steep sides so its easy to get up to maintain the waterfall and flowers etc.   

I also tried to make the two areas behind the pond where I put in lotus tubs, level as possible around where I have to get in to maintain.  One thing I have a problem with is when I am trying to get the string algea off my waterfall plate that plate is slick as glass so I pretty much have to get into the pond and wade over to the waterfall to get that off.

Cant wait to hear others safety ideas.

tinkster

[Esther]

If you build it, they will come. I swear, people can drown in a 5 gallon bucket and have.

I put landscaping  and a decorative fence around part of my pond but still at least a third of it is easily accessable and dangerous to a child. I have a light across the pond showing the falls at night in the summer and in colder weather, I have the DIY deicer with the light bulb in it so it is seeable at all times. I called our local township to learn about the rules governing a pond before we built it and there weren't any. There are rules about a swimming pool though. Isn't that odd?

[Mikey]

Bonnie: Great thread.  Maybe it will save a child's life...   I spoke with David Curtright nine or ten years ago when I was first building my pond.  He worked at a pond supply place in the San Diego area and he was very helpful.

I pulled a permit (pool permit) when I built my pond.  Here were the code requirements pertaining to safety as I recall them:

Code required that no electrical outlet could be within 10' of the pond....The reason for this was to keep people from having a plug-in radio fall into the pond/pool.

Code required that all doors from the house that open to the area where the pond/pool is located must have an alarm that is triggered when the door is opened.  The reason for this is so that small children will trigger the alarm when the door is opened.  We only activate the alarm when children are present.  These alarms were cheap; $7.00 each at HD.

Code required that the pond/pool property be surround by a wall/fence that is 6' high.  The fence/wall must be smooth.  California law considers pools/ponds to be an "attractive nuisance" (meaning it is likely to attrack kids) and the smooth fencing/wall (no chain link) is to discourage children from climbing the wall and gaining access. 

Code required that all gates leading to the pond/pool be smooth (can't climb) and be 6' high and have self closing gate hardware attached.  The inspector tested each gate three times to ensure the gate would close by itself and the latch would engage.  That's all the safety code that I can recall that pertained to me.

My pond has a necklace of small to medium sized rocks encircling it.  They originally were not secured and were just sitting on top of the EPDM.  Several years ago I planted some Sweet Flag bare root in between the rocks to break up the necklace look of the rocks.  The roots of the Sweet Flag now have a strangle hold of the EPDM and stones and effectively hold them in place.  In fact most of the small rocks are completely covered by the plant and it is quite a chore to try to pry them loose.  If someone stands on the edge they may slip in because of the slippery plants but I can guarantee that they won't slip in because of a tipsy rock.....  The Sweet Flag did and excellent job breaking up the necklace effect as most of the small rocks can't be seen and the pond edge now has a very natural look.  So I highly recommend using Sweet Flag to secure rocks that have their feet wet.

[Jerry]

He did mention infections in the article.  I had a bad one, 6 days in the hospital too!
The UCLA infectious disease whiz ruled out the pond.  There was never any conclusion how i got the nasty bug.  I do wear waders in the pond thses days. Getting them off an on is a pain, but I like living too.
What I had, 2 years ago was a pericardial Efusion. :'(