We use cookies to offer you a better browsing experience, analyze site traffic, personalize content and serve targeted ads. Please review how we use cookies here – Privacy Policy. By using our site, you consent to our use of cookies and you have reviewed the Terms and Conditions of Use and consent thereto.
Biological vs. Chemical Pond Treatment
Monday, March 3, 2025
pond care
Biological vs. Chemical Pond Treatment
Ponds add a certain charm—an idyllic, sophisticated feel—a higher sense of professionalism and refinement—to any facility. But this isn’t so much the case when they’re covered in muck and algae. You want to treat your pond so that your property looks well-maintained, but is it better to use chemical or biological treatment methods?
At State Industrial Products, we manufacture and distribute chemical solutions for various applications, including pond treatment. When it comes to your pond, you want to keep everything clean for the aesthetics of your facility and the good of the ecosystem, but it’s not always clear how best to do it.
To help you determine the best treatment method for your pond, we will explain why ponds need treatment, how chemical treatment works, and how biological treatment works. After reading, you’ll know whether chemical or biological treatment will work better for your pond.
Why Do Ponds Need Treatment?
Before there was mass pollution, water could filter itself, meaning that ponds would automatically be maintained through the natural water cycle. Runoff water would gather nutrients and end up in watersheds and later in larger bodies of water.
However, now that we have industrial, commercial, agricultural, and residential developments, water absorbs excess nutrients and other negative components (e.g., waste/decay, detergents, fertilizers, stormwater, fossil fuels, etc.). This contaminated or compromised water then ends up in rivers, lakes, and ponds.
For a typical pond, this can mean a surplus of nitrogen and phosphorus. When too many of these nutrients are added to a pond, they can lead to unrestrained plant growth. Namely, this means that algae will grow at an exponential rate. And when algae overgrow, they block out the sunlight and deplete the oxygen supply in the water.
Without sufficient access to sunlight or oxygen, all the other plants in the pond will die. As they die off and rot, they become a part of a muck layer of dead plant life and other decaying biologicals (e.g., animal waste). Forced to live in this decaying muck layer, all the animals in the ecosystem will die, and suddenly, you’ll have an entire pond of decaying aquatic life.
This is awful for local wildlife, and it means your pond will look and smell really gross. That’s where pond treatment comes in.
Pond treatment involves using one or more chemical or biological products to treat these issues and ultimately restore the water quality in a pond. Depending on your pond’s situation, a different amount of product will be used to treat anything from mild issues to very severe consequences. After treating for as little as a few weeks, you should be able to notice improvements in the algae and debris levels of your pond as well as its overall clarity.
There are two main types of pond treatment: chemical and biological. Each option works differently, making them suited for different situations.
How Does Chemical Pond Treatment Work?
When you use chemical pond treatment, you’ll be putting a harsh product into your pond to kill the algae and other excess plant life.
With these chemicals, you will get fast-acting solutions. Within a matter of days, you will see clearer water, the breakdown of weeds and algae, and overall better conditions. However, these processes don’t break down the excess nitrogen and phosphorus that are causing the plant growth issues in the first place. This means that while your pond will initially seem to improve, the problem will continue and will come back worse than before.
As a result, chemical pond treatment can be a effective as a quick fix, but it’s not recommended as a long-term resolution. The fast-acting short-term results may be nice, but in the long run, you could be setting yourself up for a much bigger problem.
How Does Biological Pond Treatment Work?
On the other hand, when you use biological pond treatment, you put a bacterial product into your pond to reduce excess nutrients via bioaugmentation.
Bioaugmentation involves cultivating a colony of bacteria to improve the health of the environment in which the colony is located. For ponds, this means adding “good” bacteria to outcompete “bad” bacteria for the same food sources. This way, the “bad” bacteria are starved out, and excess nutrients are broken down, effectively removing them from the ecosystem and reducing the negative effects the “bad” bacteria produce.
Through bioaugmentation, the “good” bacteria match their growth rate to the growth rate of the pollution. It then stabilizes in relation to the state of the pollution, and when the pollution declines, the “good” bacteria do the same. This way, the pollution is always kept proportionally under control.
While they may not work as quickly as chemical treatment, biological products are a more natural way of handling pond problems. They get to the root of the issue, act as a more effective long-term solution, and are also more environmentally friendly. Overall, this makes them a preferred option for pond care.
Learn How State Chemical Can Help You Treat Your Pond
You want your pond to be well-maintained, but it’s hard to know what type of product will effectively give this result. Now that you understand how biological products can effectively treat your pond in the long run, watch the video below to learn how State Industrial Products can help you treat your pond with a natural, biological approach.
State Industrial Products © 2025 . All rights reserved.