Wife worried about depth of pond and grandkids falling in

[Chumley]

I have a small pond 650 gal with a depth ranging from 0 inches to 30 inches
at built in drain. It is raised about 18
inches above ground behind a retaining wall. I have just goldfish and lots
of plants. I built it with a 6 inch plant
shelf all around. I have lost a bunch of fine fish to Blue Herons and
racoons have torn up my plants. I have since installed
a scarecrow motion sensor sprinkler which seemed to work fine except that it
used a LOT of water (my water bills
were tremendous). I also tried an electric fence all around and it works
well also, but doesn't look too good so I
reverted to the scarecrow. Now my question: I would like to weld a rebar
grid (4-6 inch spacing) together and
place it on the plant shelf so you couldn't see it really unless you are
right on top of it. I would make it in sections
so I could remove it for maintenence. It would satisfy my wife's anxiety to
know the grid was there and the water would
effectively be only 6 inches deep in case one of our grandkids or neighbor
kids fell in. We have no fence and our yard
is open to a public greenbelt area which kids use all the time to play. Is
this a viable alternative? Should I paint it with
epoxy paint to keep the rusting metal from fouling the water? Would the
rusting metal harm the fish or plants?
Sorry for the long post, but I need some help with this one. Thank you
kindly for time and thoughts.

Chumley

[D Kat]

I'm going to cross post this to rec.pond where you will get more answers I
think. I would think rebar would rust right away....
"Chumley" > wrote in message
...
> I would like to weld a rebar
> grid (4-6 inch spacing) together and
> place it on the plant shelf so you couldn't see it really unless you are
> right on top of it. I would make it in sections
> so I could remove it for maintenence. It would satisfy my wife's anxiety
to
> know the grid was there and the water would
> effectively be only 6 inches deep in case one of our grandkids or neighbor
> kids fell in. We have no fence and our yard
> is open to a public greenbelt area which kids use all the time to play. Is
> this a viable alternative? Should I paint it with
> epoxy paint to keep the rusting metal from fouling the water? Would the
> rusting metal harm the fish or plants?
> Sorry for the long post, but I need some help with this one. Thank you
> kindly for time and thoughts.
>
> Chumley
>
>

[enigma]

"D Kat" > wrote in
et:

> I'm going to cross post this to rec.pond where you will get
> more answers I think. I would think rebar would rust right
> away.... "

it would take a couple years, but a kid can drown in less than
an inch of water... how deep is the pond, what dimensions &
how stupid are the kids? my grandparents had a lilypond about
6'x3' & we sailed boats in it & tried to jump across it all
the time (well, jumping across happened mostly when we were
all dressed up fancy for church or something...and we never
quite made the jump. got yelled at alot <g>). it couldn't have
been deeper than 3', i guess since we could climb right out. i
know they worried about us falling in & drowning, but we never
did. my grandpa ended up filling the pond in after we grew up
because the neighbor kids were apparently dumber than we were,
or maybe thier mom had less of a sense of humor about wet
muddy kids...
lee

[Stephen M. Henning]

"D Kat" > wrote:

> > I would like to weld a rebar
> > grid (4-6 inch spacing) together and
> > place it on the plant shelf so you couldn't see it really unless you are
> > right on top of it and the water would
> > effectively be only 6 inches deep in case one of our grandkids or neighbor
> > kids fell in.

Actually something that can catch a persons leg is more dangerous. I
had an adult relative die in 1 foot of water because his leg got trapped
and he couldn't get out. When he passed out, he drowned. There is no
substitute for a fence to keep small children out. Then there are nets
that you can suspend just under the water to keep people out and fish
in. It prevents herons from eating all of the fish.

--
Pardon my spam deterrent; send email to
http://home.earthlink.net/~rhodyman

[David Ross]

Chumley wrote :[i]
>
> I have a small pond 650 gal with a depth ranging from 0 inches
> to 30 inches at built in drain.

> We have no fence and our yard
> is open to a public greenbelt area which kids use all the
> time to play.

Depending on your local building codes, a pond 30 inches deep
might qualify as a pool requiring fencing. Before making any
alterations that might not suffice, you should check with your
local Building and Safety Department.

If you fail to comply with the codes and a child is injured (or
worse), the liability coverage in your homeowner's insurance might
be void. Many insurance policies do not protect you when you
violate the law.
--

David E. Ross
<http://www.rossde.com/>

I use Mozilla as my Web browser because I want a browser that
complies with Web standards. See <http://www.mozilla.org/>.

[D Kat]

Please attribute the posts correctly. This is not what I said. I said that
I would post the question to rec.ponds so that the person might get replies
(alt.garden doe not seem to have anyone there.) DKat
"Stephen M. Henning" > wrote in message
...
> "D Kat" > wrote:
>
> > > I would like to weld a rebar
> > > grid (4-6 inch spacing) together and
> > > place it on the plant shelf so you couldn't see it really unless you
are
> > > right on top of it and the water would
> > > effectively be only 6 inches deep in case one of our grandkids or
neighbor
> > > kids fell in.
>
> Actually something that can catch a persons leg is more dangerous. I
> had an adult relative die in 1 foot of water because his leg got trapped
> and he couldn't get out. When he passed out, he drowned. There is no
> substitute for a fence to keep small children out. Then there are nets
> that you can suspend just under the water to keep people out and fish
> in. It prevents herons from eating all of the fish.
>
> --
> Pardon my spam deterrent; send email to
> http://home.earthlink.net/~rhodyman

[Chumley]

I have a net OVER the pond now for the winter in Portland, Oregon (Zone 8)
and I keep the system running all winter and even tho the max depth is 30
inches I have no problems with freezing. I did get a 1 inch crust of ice
but the pump was circulating and the waterfall was falling and now things
have thawed and all is well. My wife worries about the stupid kids and so
do I. Our county codes say that ponds or pools 36 inches deep would qualify
for fencing and I have a million dollar liability rider on my homeowners
insurance (for the idiots and stupids and lawyers, or is that an oxymoron?)
What about the netting underwater rather than the metal grid. I can see
that there could be a problem with the solid metal grid.

"enigma" > wrote in message
. ..
> "D Kat" > wrote in
> et:
>
> > I'm going to cross post this to rec.pond where you will get
> > more answers I think. I would think rebar would rust right
> > away.... "
>
> it would take a couple years, but a kid can drown in less than
> an inch of water... how deep is the pond, what dimensions &
> how stupid are the kids? my grandparents had a lilypond about
> 6'x3' & we sailed boats in it & tried to jump across it all
> the time (well, jumping across happened mostly when we were
> all dressed up fancy for church or something...and we never
> quite made the jump. got yelled at alot <g>). it couldn't have
> been deeper than 3', i guess since we could climb right out. i
> know they worried about us falling in & drowning, but we never
> did. my grandpa ended up filling the pond in after we grew up
> because the neighbor kids were apparently dumber than we were,
> or maybe thier mom had less of a sense of humor about wet
> muddy kids...
> lee

[enigma]

"Chumley" > wrote in
:

> I have a net OVER the pond now for the winter in Portland,
> Oregon (Zone 8) and I keep the system running all winter
> and even tho the max depth is 30 inches I have no problems
> with freezing. I did get a 1 inch crust of ice but the
> pump was circulating and the waterfall was falling and now
> things have thawed and all is well. My wife worries about
> the stupid kids and so do I. Our county codes say that
> ponds or pools 36 inches deep would qualify for fencing and
> I have a million dollar liability rider on my homeowners
> insurance (for the idiots and stupids and lawyers, or is
> that an oxymoron?) What about the netting underwater rather
> than the metal grid. I can see that there could be a
> problem with the solid metal grid.

can you get netting that will hold 80-90 pounds? a 3' fence
will keep toddlers out (mostly. go for vertical slats & make
sure the crosspieces are inside, but be aware some toddlers
climb). kids older than 4 should be taught to stay away from
other people's property unless the have permission anyway.
lee