The relatively "shallow depth", and small "Deep Area" of a Water Garden Pond, as compared to Koi ponds and Hybrid Ponds™, make them quicker and easier to install, they don't typically require Permits to build, and they are the "safest" of the pond types for children and pets.
The water plant shelves of a Water Garden Pond serve two purposes: The first is to accommodate aquatic plants, the second is to act as "stairs" to easily walk into and out of the pond. Having a maximum depth of just 24", children taller than 24" can simply "stand-up" in the pond and walk out of the "stairs" if they accidentally fall into the pond. The same holds true for pets.
A Water Garden Pond is easier to maintain than a lawn, but it is the most difficult of the three pond styles to maintain - mainly because of the pea gravel on the horizontal shelves. Russell Watergardens has designed the HydroClean™ pond skimmers to remove most of the large debris that falls into the pond (leaves, and etc.), and the Hydro Vortex™ filter is designed for easy backwashing of trapped debris, sediment, and detritus - but the pea gravel itself traps debris that doesn't find its way to either the HydroClean™ Pond Skimmer or the Hydro Vortex™ Waterfall Filter.
Cleaning the pea gravel inside a Water Garden Pond requires a few steps. The gravel needs to be kept free of "sunken debris" with a long net or extension tongs. Secondly, the pea gravel should be "fluffed" with water pressure to dislodge any trapped debris. This is easily done by attaching 3/4" PVC pipe to a garden hose - and with a nozzle on the end of the PVC pipe, simply spray tap water into the gravel to "fluff" it up and release any trapped debris. Use a net to catch and remove any larger debris. The water will temporarily "cloud up". To make this easier, a pond vaccum with a suction intake screen is used.
The next step is to clear the water with HydroFloc™ Water Clarifier. When applied to the pond at the waterfalls, HydroFloc™ will start to "clump" the cloudy water together for capture in the HydroClean™ Pond Skimmer Brushes and the Hydro Vortex™.
After 24 hours, simply rinse the HydroClean™ Pond Skimmer brushes and perform a backwash on the Hydro Vortex™ filter. The pond, gravel, skimmer,and filter are all now cleaned. This should be done at least every 30 days to avoid a possible harmful build-up of organic debris in the pea gravel.
