Thanks for putting the pics up UkKiwi, they help a lot, but they also raise as many questions as they answer
.
First, a couple of
caveats:
1. I'm not an expert. I'm a garden designer with a particular interest in wildlife gardens, and I know something about designing, constructing, and maintaining wildlife ponds; but restoring an old and delapidated water feature like that is a little beyond my expertise.
2. Even if I was an expert, I'd be wary of giving specific advice on such a complex feature without a site visit and closer examination. Unfortunately, you're too far away for that to be possible. Which is a pity, because I'd love to have a poke around in there
In the end, it may pay you to get on-site professional advice, but, for what they're worth, some thoughts:
1. The feature appears to be very shady, which is generally not good for ponds and pond life. What time of day was it, and what direction were you facing when you took the photo from the balcony? Does the feature get full sun at any time during the day?
2. If the pools are fed by ground water, the chances are that this is polluted by run-off from gardens and nearby roads. If so, this will always be problematical. Are you absolutely sure this is a natural watercourse that's been dammed?
3. I'm puzzled by the construction technique you describe - concrete
over plastic? It's usually the other way around if both materials are used. I suspect that this is simply an earlier, and rather amateurish, attempt to deal with the leak(s).
4. You have young children? In this case, I should point out that children can drown in a few centimetres of water, and netting only the centre pool may not really remove the risk.
As you've only recently moved in, if I were in your shoes, I'd be inclined to the following (in the absence of expert advice):
1. Leave it alone for the rest of the summer. Monitor water flow, sunlight, algae growth; ID the plants and wildlife already there; get the water analysed for contaminants; and generally just see what happens to it as the year progresses.
2. Try and ascertain the actual source of the water, and what actually happens to it when it leaves your property.
3. Look into the practicalities of establishing the top two pools as a Reed-bed filtration system. This is what first springs to my mind as a way of cleaning the water, but I really don't know how practical or effective it would be for such a small area.
4. Give serious thought to digging out the lower two pools and rebuilding them completely. This would be a big job, but do-able I think, and would give you the opportunity to redesign them specifically for wildlife, if that's what you want.
That's a fine garden you've acquired, with a lot of potential. What are your long-term aims for it?
Hope that's helped.
T2
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