Hello from me - and a question on standing water

Hello all.

I'm new here and as such thought I would introduce myself:

I'm Dave and I live in South Manchester / Cheshire and have recently moved into a new house.

I will attach some pics of my issue. But basically the house we just bought has a 12ft x 12ft pond, raised up 3 foot from the ground. It takes up a huuuuge amount of space in the rear garden (SE facing). The pond has to go!

I think I have my mind set on how to do this (Kango drill and a pump), so that is not the issue. The issue is:

Next to the pond there appears to be some standing water in a corner. The ex-owner referred to this as a "sump" but it appears to have no drainage. Even though this is well underneath the damp-course, it still worries me.

I have been told by my father in law (who owns a gardening business) that the best thing to do would be to get some "MOT" aggregate and fill the water in. Gravel on top and then soil etc. on top of that. I intend to use this space for either a BBQ or a seating area.

So, I'm just looking to see if this option is the right way to go about it please.

Forgive the long post, hopefully I'm not bored you to death!

Thanks



tldr: I have standing water next to my house underneath damp course - how to best fill it in?


Pics:

 

Welcome to Gardeners Corner

Might be an idea to dig it out and put in a soakaway cage, you could install a sump pump in that with a hose to drain it if it still floods after you've done the work.

You don't want to be having a BBQ sat in a puddle.

 

Welcome to Gardeners Corner Dave. There's a pipe coming through the fence, is that some sort of run off from elsewhere and is that where the water is coming from?

 

Hiya and welcome.
It looks like an overflow for the pond, and not ideal. I would think that once the pond has gone, the standing water will reduce/go away. If it doesn't, then you'll need to take some action, but get rid of the pond first is my advice.

 

Thanks for all the responses guys!

I have looked into the soakaway cages, they look like milk crates (I can feel a corner being cut already).

The pipe through the fence there goes to a drain and was used as the "out" for the pond pump. Not a good setup all told. The guy was the ultimate cowboy.

I think it's time to rent a pump and a kango drill and send the pond into the next life. Then I can let it dry out and see the lie of th
e land.

First time obliterating a big brick pond like this, so any tips would be warmly received.

Thanks again


Pic:

 

The last picture suggests it's been built right in front of a patio door. I don't understand why somebody would do that!

To start off I'd drain it bit by bit just in case there's any fish or other wildlife in there.

 

It should be fairly straight forward. Empty out the water, and set to with the weapon of your choice. Once you get one block out, the rest will come away easily. It might be that there's a concrete base to the pond, so be prepared!

 

Not patio doors, but the end of the conservatory. Still

All fish are gone. Ex-owner took them. 14 coy carp, would have been great for eBay!

Thanks again for the responses. Should be getting a pump and the power tools next weekend. Can't bloody wait (don't tell the wife I said that!)

Have a good weekend guys

 

Hi Dave, welcome to Gardeners Corner, only thing i would be a bit concered about would be flying rubble and those windows, would make a great raised bed

 

It's becoming a brick built L-shaped seating area with a bit of luck!

May as well reuse the bricks...