Clean Water

I have an old inground swimming pool which has not been used for years. The water just sits, but  I am looking for a way to clean that water naturally and without much expense enough to make it drinkable for livestock. Mostly to water chickens.  Would something as simple as a pump to aerate the water work?

Well, the chickens I've kept wouldn't mind "dirty" water in the least.
I'm fact, they prefer it over what comes from the tap.
Does your pool have algae growing in it?
If so maybe stock common pleco and Koi to eat it?

Actually stocking fish in a pond generally decreases quality of water, because you want to filter out nutrients (esp. phosphates and nitrates)
to keep the water clean/less habitable for bacteria.

Growing any type of plant (or algae) accumulates nutrients in the plant, which you can subsequently remove to also remove the nutrients.
Search for "Natural Swimming pond" or "Wetland filter" for more information on this.
If you prefer mechanical filters, search for "Slow sand filter".
I peronally think the best filter (because it can basically filter nuclear waste into drinking water) ist the mollison filter, but its complex to implement.

Anyway your chicken should not have direct access to the water, as they tend to pollute it.

R. Han wrote:Actually stocking fish in a pond generally decreases quality of water, because you want to filter out nutrients (esp. phosphates and nitrates)
to keep the water clean/less habitable for bacteria.

Growing any type of plant (or algae) accumulates nutrients in the plant, which you can subsequently remove to also remove the nutrients.
Search for "Natural Swimming pond" or "Wetland filter" for more information on this.
If you prefer mechanical filters, search for "Slow sand filter".
I peronally think the best filter (because it can basically filter nuclear waste into drinking water) ist the mollison filter, but its complex to implement.

Anyway your chicken should not have direct access to the water, as they tend to pollute it.

Would a filter even be necessary if I did something as simple as a fountain or some sort of aeration?

And no, chickens will not have direct access. This is to fill up a tank which is then taken to our pastures.

Expence will be incurred.
Some ideas;
- Convert it to a storage tank https://watercapture.com.au/greywater-and-rainwater-articles/convert-swimming-pool-to-a-rainwater-tank/
- Look at Natural pool systems
- mix fish and plants as discussed

Not an expert by any stretch (though that clearly isn't stopping me!), but what about duckweed?  Maybe combined with the aerator fountain thingy, or bubbler stone, or whatever?  I suspect poultry would eat the duckweed, so two-fer-one - cleaner water and chow?

Well, it's an idea, anyway...

Keep in mind, I am looking at simple solutions, not the most creative and elaborate. That's why my mind just thinks, a simple fountain and throw it in... however I am unsure it that will work. I think it will, but not sure. But I want to stay away from making this a big project. The simplest and cheapest that gets the job done wins.

Focusing on simple, what contamination are trying to alleviate?

William Bronson wrote:Focusing on simple, what contamination are trying to alleviate?

Since the water pretty much just sits in an old pool, my main worry would be anaerobic bacteria, hence my thinking I may be able to get away with just simply adding oxygen. However, my limited knowledge on this, I could be overlooking something else.

There is a lot of dirt that has accumulated over the years and do know some frogs have made there home there. It may be fine as is even, but I didn't want to just give it to the chickens without poking the minds of those who are better educated on this. Occasionally we do a have duck or 2 swimming around in there and I am sure they are drinking it. But just wanted to play it safe before I start filling up chicken waterers.

It would seem you already have aeration firmly in your mind.  

What if you do some water testing now, then start introducing oxygen by whatever means you deem fit.  Let your system work its magic for three weeks and then measure water quality again.  Please let us know about improvements or lack thereof

Rico Loma wrote:It would seem you already have aeration firmly in your mind.  

What if you do some water testing now, then start introducing oxygen by whatever means you deem fit.  Let your system work its magic for three weeks and then measure water quality again.  Please let us know about improvements or lack thereof

Aeration is just my best guess, but I am not even sure if that is what is needed, if it will work, or if I need to do anything at all. But for your test kit recommendation, I am not 100% sure what I should be looking for when testing. I found this on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Testing-Drinking-Strips-Hardness-Fluoride/dp/B0CQ1VLX88/ref=sxin_16_pa_sp_search_thematic_sspa?content-id=amzn1.sym.1ac62dee-1169-4bf4-91b9-84fe33c930b1%3Aamzn1.sym.1ac62dee-1169-4bf4-91b9-84fe33c930b1&crid=26JJFJPW1XT9H&cv_ct_cx=pond+water+test+kit&keywords=pond+water+test+kit&pd_rd_i=B0CQ1VLX88&pd_rd_r=a286321f-5e29-4b4f-a955-0823f7eb780e&pd_rd_w=QJEtd&pd_rd_wg=WOXLO&pf_rd_p=1ac62dee-1169-4bf4-91b9-84fe33c930b1&pf_rd_r=PC5EHWB3G8GKFCRX1E7R&qid=1742817894&sbo=RZvfv%2F%2FHxDF%2BO5021pAnSA%3D%3D&sprefix=pond+water+t%2Caps%2C205&sr=1-4-6024b2a3-78e4-4fed-8fed-e1613be3bcce-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9zZWFyY2hfdGhlbWF0aWM&psc=1

Would that suffice?

I have seen some pools that have just been sitting unattended that are really nasty.

If that pool is really nasty then cleaning it by emptying it first will be called for.

Once clean taking measure to keep it clean can be daunting.

I like the suggestion of fish and water plants.

Our wildlife prefer to drink out of pools of water on the ground rather than the options that we furnish them.

You could try a water pump and then add a homemade venturi to add air to the mix.
I haven't tried this nor can I vouch for this youtuber - it was the first of many.
You could also try floating plants on top to pull excess nutrients from the pool.
Might even get some produce out of it.
Good luck.  

Keith and Anne are both on target , I believe. Could you post a photo or two please? Draining as a first step is a task you might take on.  Could you possibly talk to your county extension agent about water testing they recommend and/or provide at low cost?

Best of luck to you friend

I think the water pump Venturi is a great way to go.

Since you will have to get the water to the chickens anyway, maybe a run it through a slow sand filter before storing it.

Andrew Vlcek wrote:Would a filter even be necessary if I did something as simple as a fountain or some sort of aeration?

I don't know about the starting chemistry of your water, but personally I think a pump system that aggressively aerates the water is a good place to start.

What are the inputs to your pond/pool? Rainwater? Municipal tap water? What does it look like right now? Curious minds want to know.

Here are some pic of the water as it sits now. We had a little bit of a freeze last night, so there is a small amount of ice at the moment. So what may at first glance look like surface scum, its just ice.

Andrew Vlcek wrote:I have an old inground swimming pool which has not been used for years. The water just sits, but  I am looking for a way to clean that water naturally and without much expense enough to make it drinkable for livestock. Mostly to water chickens.  Would something as simple as a pump to aerate the water work?

Andrew, you don't say where you live. The aerator would help for sure, but you also need a way to filter the water and keep it moving through a filter, if you can stand the expense. How large is your swimming pool, and how deep? You will need something big enough to do the job, obviously. I made my own filters from 2- 55 gallon barrels but my pond isn't deep enough for swimming.
A larger body of water will stay clear longer, simply because it takes longer to get dirty, but there will come a time when you will need to pump out the whole thing and replace the water, so just know  that and be ready for it. My pond isn't very deep but it is 20' X10' and about 3ft deep. I use a couple of sump pumps to do that. It takes about one hour and I also have a good pump to fill it up in about the same amount of time. Then I'm good for another week, week and a half, depending. This water has a lot of nutrients in it so it goes to water the trees in the orchard. Because chickens do not wade and poop in the water, you should be able to keep it much cleaner for much longer. Be careful with chickens drowning though: When spooked, they could end up in the bath and they are not good swimmers! Will they have an easy access point of will they need to bend way down?
I should say I added 10 meat ducks [White Pekins] and a few fish.]
I buy the fish from a bait shop: it is so much cheaper than getting fancy koi, and you can figure that the ducks will eat a few if you don't sink cages that ducks can't disturb. At the end of the season, I empty the pond and kill/ dehydrate the fish to give to the chickens/ the ducks. At one point, I figured every fish must be dead because I was gone and the water got so baaaaad I could not see my fingers. I sank those 2 sump pumps and started drawing. I only had 5 inches to go and saw a whole mess of fish. The ducks saw them too, though: they jumped in there and ate over half of them before I could add water, enough to allow the fish to hide! the fish had grown to 6-7"!
As far as algae, could you get a bale of barley straw? I keep my barrels and pond free of mosquitoes that way too:
As barley straw slowly ferments or rots, it produces a natural extract that clears pond water. This fermentation prevents mosquito eggs from hatching, so Barley is really good.
If the algae is already present, though it won't "clear the algae.
While effective, this fermentation process has always been slow and messy, requiring the barley to be added early in the spring, and several times in the season. Next time, I figure on putting the barley at the very top in the filter barrel and grow some  water cress, which also cleans a lot of stuff out of the water. [It's good to eat too, and chickens and ducks will fight over it!
The barley doesn't hurt the fish or the duck [and it won't hurt chickens either.]
Here is an easy plan for a do it yourself filter, but there are many different versions and half of the fun is to tweak it until it works just perfect for your purpose:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9ceM5p1Wn0&t=38s

I remember reading a book on aquiculture back in the 1970's where a catfish pond used a drum of rock with a waterfall flowing though the drum.  Could not locate anything highly similar, but did find a similar setup with photos if you are interested.  https://www.koiphen.com/forums/showthread.php?36550-55-Gal-Drum-Sand-and-gravel-filter-DIY

Richard Henry wrote:I remember reading a book on aquiculture back in the 1970's where a catfish pond used a drum of rock with a waterfall flowing though the drum.  Could not locate anything highly similar, but did find a similar setup with photos if you are interested.  https://www.koiphen.com/forums/showthread.php?36550-55-Gal-Drum-Sand-and-gravel-filter-DIY

Thanks, Richard. Yep, that's actually pretty close to what I did. I used 2 lids, perforated and cut to fit tightly in the barrel to separate the various layers of filtering medium: Empty at the bottom so that the water can go round and round before finding its way up the barrel, then rocks, about fist sized, then lots of clean pea gravel.
The idea was that if I need to really clean the filtering mediums, I could empty the barrel layer by layer on a tarp [or in the grass] and spray the whole thing clean.
I finished with some foam, but I don't think I will use that this year: It got really slimy and with the pea gravel, I can grow something in there instead. I used two pipes to cascade back in the pond [one wasn't enough and the water was going over, so I added another Uniseal and a pipe].
I see that in the design you have they had a 90 degree elbow underneath the barrel. I thought about doing it that way but with the cold weather, I was concerned that the bottom would bulge out and the barrel not stand straight? . Maybe it would not, I don't know. Mine rests on a completely flat surface [a strong table, made with 4" X4"]. I didn't really trust myself to goop a tight seal under there, so...
I have a valve way down the bottom on the side so I can empty the barrel and backwash the filter when I need to.
So far, so good.
Because I live in zone 4b WI, I completely emptied the barrels [I made 2, with 2 pumps because of the ducks: they can really mess up the water fast!] . I completely the pond at the end of the season. The meat ducks went to freezer camp.
I'm toying with the idea of making the pond deeper and keep laying ducks over the winter. [I must be a glutton for punishment]

Cécile Stelzer Johnson wrote:

Andrew Vlcek wrote:I have an old inground swimming pool which has not been used for years. The water just sits, but  I am looking for a way to clean that water naturally and without much expense enough to make it drinkable for livestock. Mostly to water chickens.  Would something as simple as a pump to aerate the water work?

As far as algae, could you get a bale of barley straw? I keep my barrels and pond free of mosquitoes that way too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9ceM5p1Wn0&t=38s

Interesting! I never knew that.

As for the chickens near the water, they will not be anywhere near it. They are all meat chickens out in chicken tractors in the pasture. I would use the "pool" water and pump it out into 55 gallon drums and transport it to the field to fill up all their waterers in their chicken tractors. I do have the old pool filter there, its an earth filter, so might be able to make use of that and maybe try that barley trick.

Honestly, I might be ok just using the water as is. a few ducks drink it and they seem fine. I would imagine it should be perfectly fine as is for chickens as I dont see a lot of scum or anything. But still, I would feel a little better if it were filtered/cleaned a bit just to be safe.

Andrew Vlcek wrote:

Cécile Stelzer Johnson wrote:

Andrew Vlcek wrote:I have an old inground swimming pool which has not been used for years. The water just sits, but  I am looking for a way to clean that water naturally and without much expense enough to make it drinkable for livestock. Mostly to water chickens.  Would something as simple as a pump to aerate the water work?

As far as algae, could you get a bale of barley straw? I keep my barrels and pond free of mosquitoes that way too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9ceM5p1Wn0&t=38s

Interesting! I never knew that.
As for the chickens near the water, they will not be anywhere near it. They are all meat chickens out in chicken tractors in the pasture. I would use the "pool" water and pump it out into 55 gallon drums and transport it to the field to fill up all their waterers in their chicken tractors. I do have the old pool filter there, its an earth filter, so might be able to make use of that and maybe try that barley trick.
Honestly, I might be ok just using the water as is. a few ducks drink it and they seem fine. I would imagine it should be perfectly fine as is for chickens as I dont see a lot of scum or anything. But still, I would feel a little better if it were filtered/cleaned a bit just to be safe.

Yikes. I didn't understand "earth filter", so I looked it up, and sure enough, I found :
https://www.vitafilters.com/collections/de-pool-filters?srsltid=AfmBOorA0on4p5LzPFCGt35MuESgFeJWkXH5IIJv8WY1XxMbCbgnivTQ
I didn't even know that you could filter water through Diatomaceous Earth, but looking at the price of these contraptions! Mama mia! They run in the thousands! It came with the swimming pool?
You might be able to pipe that water, with a garden hose[?] to the field and save yourself the price of a 55 gallon barrel plus the PVC connections. Tractor supply has rubber bowls that can contain 4 or 5 gallons of water. Those work well outside too.
If they freeze, they don't burst and you can turn them upside down and refill.
For the barley hay, Fleet Farm usually sells some little cushions of barley straw sewn inside a burlap bag for $7-8.00. [don't believe that they will "Last 2 months or 6 months" or whatever, though. How long they last depends on the volume ratio of water to the size of the cushion.
https://www.fleetfarm.com/detail/clearwater-clear-water-barley-straw-pond-treatment-bales-2-pk/0000000345535?srsltid=AfmBOoqUhT8w1z6NHtz_WfRFWFq7vUENwirZ-Q-BjTG_7KQaQQhLpFRQ
Also, concerning how clean the water has to be for chickens: They peck at dirt all day long, they poop in that dirt too, and scratch, and ...eat...so I suspect their immune system is much better than ours.
I'm sure you are aware that they are carrion eaters, being descendants of the Velociraptors that used to roam the earth in the times of dinosaurs.
I would even go further: as you know, every process of digestion is first  and foremost a process of putrefaction. and meat that is already "on its way" will not harm them. Yeah. It may feel disturbing to think of our sweet darling  "fluffy butts" eating something that, as humans, we find so objectionable.
That is why  adding a road kill to their diet once in a while is easily devoured by them, with no ill effect.
This said, of course we want to offer clean water to them and we should do our utmost to keep their water clean,
So kudos for all your efforts. Just because they "can" eat and drink dirt doesn't mean we should raise them in filth if we can help it.
The same goes for pigs, goats and everything entrusted in our care.

Andrew you're on the right track with professional grade advice here.  I predict great success for your pool.

Cecile I bow to your superior know-how.  Also thank you for the laughs, Honestly, I learned a relearning about our pygmy velociraptors , i remain a prophet in the wilderness here in GA.  Point taken.  Bless her, the love of my life, but my long-suffering wife admonishes me if I take near fetid leftovers to the chickens.  I retort that vultures  eating roadkill is nature at work, their digestion will neutralize anthrax, etc.........so our chooks will destroy a slightly old beef burrito with no ill effects.

I often refer to to all my chickens as my flock of tiny dinosaurs. So I'm right there with you on that thought. But yes, if a little effort on my part could give them better drinking water, why not?

Just for context, I am on the smaller end of large scale here. We raise 4,500 meat birds over the summer currently and next season adding another 1500 to that. The pool was my old childhood inground pool, so yes, earth filter still there and functional. The chickens are all in chicken tractors some fairly far away. I already have a barrel I put a spout on and the barrel I bought for $10, valve was a couple more dollars after that. So for pretty cheap I can haul 55 gallons at a time to the pasture. The hose just wouldn't be as cost effective given the distance. This is all to alleviate from using our wells so much.

I think what I may try, use our old earth filter and hose for the pool vacuum. Put the hose in the skimmer so it sucks and float the end of the hose a couple feet under water. Currently the water level is below the jets, so that will create a couple fountains spraying into the pool. Im this this will keep it a little on the safer/cleaner side for drinking, but not so much so that our tiny dinosaurs are missing out on some probiotics!

Thank you for all the advice!

Andrew Vlcek wrote:I often refer to to all my chickens as my flock of tiny dinosaurs. So I'm right there with you on that thought. But yes, if a little effort on my part could give them better drinking water, why not?

Just for context, I am on the smaller end of large scale here. We raise 4,500 meat birds over the summer currently and next season adding another 1500 to that. The pool was my old childhood inground pool, so yes, earth filter still there and functional. The chickens are all in chicken tractors some fairly far away. I already have a barrel I put a spout on and the barrel I bought for $10, valve was a couple more dollars after that. So for pretty cheap I can haul 55 gallons at a time to the pasture. The hose just wouldn't be as cost effective given the distance. This is all to alleviate from using our wells so much.

I think what I may try, use our old earth filter and hose for the pool vacuum. Put the hose in the skimmer so it sucks and float the end of the hose a couple feet under water. Currently the water level is below the jets, so that will create a couple fountains spraying into the pool. Im this this will keep it a little on the safer/cleaner side for drinking, but not so much so that our tiny dinosaurs are missing out on some probiotics!
Thank you for all the advice!

"on the smaller end of a large scale!?"
That is pretty large scale, Andrew. Now, I understand better that you would try very hard to give your chooks absolutely pristine water. With such an investment, bad water could tank your whole operation in no time.
[chuckles, chuckles: I could not resist the bad pun]
If you go by the 1/2 qt/ water/day/chicken, that's quite a lot of water! 4,500 X 1/2 qt= 2,250quarts or 562.5 gallons.
Do I have my figures right? You will have to haul at least 10 of these 55 gallon barrels each day.
Considering your investments, you might want to invest in one of these huge tanks:
https://www.tankandbarrel.com/plastic-poly-vertical-water-storage-tanks-crmi-1000vtfw-custom-roto-molding-1000-gallon-water-storage-tank-p-1981.html?gQT=1&srsltid=AfmBOoqrO4NiQmBptxbGQk0i2lNUd_nYDFZpYh3cUOHU79dKLjOV8GfUa1s&osCsid=e84ab9a1fc4a9053d58195fadfe8a174
At $600-700, they are not cheap, but selling 4,500 meat chickens or more should make it affordable. With a 1,000 gallon tank, you will be  able to hold 2 days.
I hope I'm high balling the figures so you don't have such a chore. I'm pulling for you and your chooks! Good luck.

That 4500 is split up over the season. 15 groups of 300 all staggered every other week. So at any given time we have 5 groups total of 300 all ranging in age. Each group is broken up into 2 processing weeks. First week we take half of the oldest group and leave smaller birds for another week of growout. Week 2 come back for the rest. Following week, on to the next batch as new baby chicks hit the brooder, and a group cycles out of the Brooder into pasture. That cycle continues until we run through 15 batches. So, no we don't need all that water all at once. I use about 100ish gallons a day just for the groups on pasture. 3 groups on pasture, 2 in the brooder. This allows us to offer fresh chicken at the markets every week... I feel like I should just make a video tour explaining our setup. Lol

Andrew Vlcek wrote:I feel like I should just make a video tour explaining our setup.

Yes, please do!

Andrew Vlcek wrote:That 4500 is split up over the season. 15 groups of 300 all staggered every other week. So at any given time we have 5 groups total of 300 all ranging in age. Each group is broken up into 2 processing weeks. First week we take half of the oldest group and leave smaller birds for another week of growout. Week 2 come back for the rest. Following week, on to the next batch as new baby chicks hit the brooder, and a group cycles out of the Brooder into pasture. That cycle continues until we run through 15 batches. So, no we don't need all that water all at once. I use about 100ish gallons a day just for the groups on pasture. 3 groups on pasture, 2 in the brooder. This allows us to offer fresh chicken at the markets every week... I feel like I should just make a video tour explaining our setup. Lol

Lol: It wasn't clear on your first post that you were raising so many meat chickens in batches and for the market.
Different goals require different setups. A picture is worth a thousand words, so maybe you should have made a video tour.
Kudos on having your operation so well organized though: I'm sure you will succeed.