What to do when your water pond is exposed to algae

Even if there was just water there, no plants, nothing, the basic forms of plant life, collectively classified as algae, would begin to arrive in 3 or 4 days, blown in on the wind as desiccated cells ready to burst into a population explosion initially feeding on basic minerals in the freshwater and then on the organic detritus that inevitably builds up in the pool from the very first day.

Soon the water would be more or less permanently thick and green, full of these microscopic plants. There are over 2,200 species of freshwater algae known to exist in the British Isles and there is nothing wrong with them as such. In fact they make vitamin rich food for fish and other vegetarian animals, whilst providing a bit of oxygen to the environment as a by-product of photosynthesis, the reaction within green plants in which ultra violet light in sunlight is used to manufacture sugars for the plants energy and growth. The problem with algae is just that they reproduce themselves to such density you cannot see anything else in the water.

If you add higher forms of plant life, they will discourage the algae by using up the nutritional resources that the algae depend upon. Quite often this entails leaf cover over the pool surface, which further inhibits algae by blocking out their essential requirement for sunlight.

With a natural balance of different sorts of plants, fulfilling different roles but working together they create a harmonious balance that keeps the pool water sweet and clear. Sounds idyllic, doesnt it? Well I certainly would not want to live there, talk about dog eat dog, its really tough in there.

Anglo Aquarium Plant demonstrate their swimming pond at the 2001 Hampton Court Palace Flower Show. This idea, popular in Northern Europe, uses water plants to keep the water clear, fresh and healthy, and nicer to swim in than a conventional chlorinated pool.