How do eradicate salt from my dam?

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Mon, 04/04/2016 - 08:41 #1

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8 years 8 months
Frosty
Last seen: 03/08/2018 - 21:05
Joined: 04/02/2016 - 14:42

How do eradicate salt from my dam?

I've recently had my dam water tested after killing my veggie crop (new home). It came back 3400 ec, so little wonder everything died. I've been advised the salt level will dilute in winter as the dam fills with rain water, however it won't be good enough for plants still. The salt level is high due to a bore which has been run into it over several years. Has anyone been in this situation and have they found it effective to completely drain the dam? Or would I also need to have a certain amount of the dam dirt scraped out to eradicate the salt issue?
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Sat, 04/16/2016 - 17:00 #2
Sean
Last seen: 03/08/2018 - 21:05
Joined: 03/22/2016 - 22:48
Hey mate, Defo worth double checking where the salt is coming from as it influences your management actions. If it is due to the bore then it should be good enough to pump the dam out and let surface run off refill it. And don't allow bore water back into it. Get the conductivity tested again. It should be significantly lower, if no decrease in salt level is observed then your run off may be contaminated by a source of salt like high conductivity soil. If its only come down 500 uS/cm or so you may need to pump out and refill a second time to get it to the conductivity you want. You shouldn't need to remove silt from the dam to deal with the salt, however it would prolly be worth takin the opportunity to get excess silt removed anyway. Just make sure you use someone who is a known dam building specialist rather than old mate down the road with an excavator. Very easy to damage the dam clay lining which is expensive to fix. I'm not an expert in this by any stretch of the imagination but it's what I'd have a go at :) Cheers and good luck
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Mon, 04/25/2016 - 06:16 #3
Starm
Last seen: 04/25/2016 - 06:18
Joined: 04/25/2016 - 05:57
Hi. You need to get a definite answer as to were the salt has come from. Is it the bore, is it just from run off, is it in the water table, etc. Identifying the source will allow you to develop a plan of attack in irradiating the issue. I have installed many irrigation systems and worked with many different water and soil conditions, and in my experience is what ever your water is, your soil will become. High salt levels in water is a very common occurrence in bore water which unfortunately is unavoidable... However you can treat the water that is being pumped out of the bore... You will need to setup an injection system. This can be a sophisticated system with a proper dosing pump so that you can setup how much product per kL of water, or a basic system where you have an inline Venturi setup which will just suck the product into the water when it is being pumped out. There are a number of acid based water treatment products that have been formulated for this very purpose.. Don't be scared by the word acid. It won't kill plants or animals. Maybe don't have this water pump into water troughs just to be certain. These products basically dissolve the salt as its coming out, thus treating the issue at the source. I can give you more information or in fact install any components if you wish. Hope this helps!!
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