having some dams de silted! The water left over is pretty murkey! i was thinking of adding cardboard or straw Any ideas 8)
I have no idea, if how or why this works, but I've been told that throwing a small bale of oaten straw into a dam will clear the water up.
might help act as a flocculent. not sure either. it might encourage algae and algae eaters... think i read about the technique first in the first permaculture book. can't reference them now to know for sure...
Well, the PDM teaches to use a silt trap described as a small pond above where the water flows into the pond.
It will settle eventually as you know , problem is settling on the edges is continually disturbed by wind forces . Gypsum will help with suspended clay do a search for rates , think about ton per Ha from memory , if you don't have livestock on them plant the edges with something quick growing to trap silt . If you want to clean it up lots for domestic use make a filter out of hay bales on a sheet of plastic and pump through it with your fire pump . I have put dam water in a house tank before when short on water it settles quickly with no external forces .
Hundred of these: https://ecopreneurist.com/2014/02/27/water-filter-made-tree-branch-removes-99-e-coli-bacteria/ I'm joking, but not bad huh? More info here: https://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0089934
A fluctuating, clay lined dam would be difficult to keep clear from just wind/wave action as mentioned above, without even taking heavy run off events and cattle access into consideration. Clays vary in how quickly they will settle and clear in still water, from a day to weeks possibly.