Duckpondonics

I was over at the Portage Bay Grange this week and discovered this super cool urban duck pond. It’s rat proof, self cleaning, and solar powered. The way it works is that muddy duck water is pumped into a settling tank where bits of residue, settle to the bottom. Ten times a day, the still pretty muddy water from the settling tank gets pumped up onto the roof of the duck house where it’s filtered through puffed clay and sucked up by the roots of potted plants. The plants and the bacteria in the puffed clay work to soak up the nutrients in the muddy water and thereby help clean and filter it. The water then pours through hoses back into the duck pond, so the ducks get the sense that they are surrounded by waterfalls. When this happens, they have a great time diving and playing in the water.

The duck pond also has a little ramp for the ducks to waddle up and they can relax on a deck, lay eggs in their nesting boxes, or have a snack of duck food. The system is based on a similar system used for fish and plants called aquaponics.

One Response to “Duckpondonics”

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1. Emmy says:

   October 14, 2012 at 9:45 am

   Lucky duck

   Reply