We got a good rain this afternoon at the house and I tested the water running into the pond as seen above at 6.15.

I then took the same run in water and swirled in a little blue clay.



2.83
Pond is still sitting at 2.9
Blue clay is clearly the issue.
If anyone knows a good source of lime near Grandview please let me know. I’m talking to US Lime but they want at least a 12 ton dump truck due to loading facilities.

Difficult to know for sure how much lime is needed based on water pH and alkalinity. The Extension service can provide lime recommendations based on soil samples. Ask them to give you the agricultural lime requirement for at least pH 6.5. It very well may take 12 tons for 2 acres being that low. The good thing about agricultural lime is that it does absolutely no harm to over-apply.

The pre-dissolve and spread by trash-pump strategy works, but you'll still want to try to move it around the pond in a grid pattern from a boat as you apply it if you can. Even fully dissolved, the lime slurry will be more dense than water and will sink to the bottom near where it goes in. Professional lime applicators use a big modified pontoon boat with a flat deck, load a scoop of lime on the deck, then use a high pressure water pump to spray the dry lime off the deck as they move about the pond.

Spraying it from the edges of the pond works better than nothing but there will probably be a large area in the middle of the pond that isn't treated well. The lime really needs to settle down over the top of the soil that need treating for full effect.

It will be a lot of hard work to get it out.

Thanks for the responses to the thread and PMs everyone!
I took soil and water samples in for testing on Friday afternoon at Tarleton State University in Stephenville. They have the Texas Institute for Applied Environmental Research lab there. I was able to speak with the lab manager and their lead scientist which was awesome. They are puzzled and say that a pH that low for this area is unheard of, and they will be analyzing it to see if there is possibly a man made contamination in the area. They did confirm that the water pH is indeed 3.2.
I should have a treatment plan based on soil and water samples pretty soon.
Outdoordude, I have a front end loader, trash pump, and have already rigged up my bowfishing boat to spread the required lime if that is what is needed. I'll post an update on what they find later along with pics of lime application.

Excellent! Glad to hear of the progress.

The green oaks can be a real problem. They contain tanins which is lethal to fish.
My experience a LONG time ago:

Had the hole dug, about 3 acres, and put in some big oaks for fish structure. Got some rains and the water turned black. I stocked with fathead minnows, bluegills and crawdads. The mud bugs left the water. All the fish died.

I pumped the whole thing dry. That took awhile. After letting the oaks dry, I started burning. That also took awhile.

Finally, after the sun dried out the soils, I restocked with no ill effects. You can test by getting a minnow bucket, putting it in the water with minnows.

I’ve had a couple of guys tell me that about the oak trees. I’m hoping that they laid out pushed over long enough to dodge that bullet. Most of them were down more than a year before the pond filled.
After I get the pH under control the water will be tested again to see if there is any toxicity present. I’ll make sure and ask about the trees and that possibility at that point. Thanks!!

PELLETIZED LIME is a lot easier to handle with a lot less dust. I put 1.5 tons on about 2 acres a few years ago with my atv and a modified feeder.

Tested pH yesterday. Still way low, but up a bit. Still waiting on the full report from Tarleton before treating the pond.



3.81 pH

I'm working and have a lull so I thought I'd update this thread. I was able to order 25+ tons of lime and had it delivered close to the pond. I opted to pump the pond down to 12-14' deep to expose more of the bank for treatment and then utilized my front end loader and my bowfishing rig w a pump on the back to spread the lime.

I treated all the exposed bank after pump down the old fashioned way…..

The altered bowfishing rig in action. My youngest daughter was making a hand at it.

Boat got a little front heavy. Good thing it’s a sealed light rail.

We ended up applying 52,000 lbs of ag grade lime. We treated the water, the banks, and put some in both of the areas that carry in run off water.

Lime was applied in August 2021. I monitored pH levels through November and they stayed at a near perfect 7.41-7.82.