Drained...

I finally got around to draining and cleaning out my water feature this weekend. I had planned to do it before I got sick and since then I just haven't had a chance. I did most of the cleaning yesterday, but I left it empty overnight. This photo is from right before I filled it.

This is the third time I've drained it, and each time I do it, I get more efficient! This time, I turned off the auto-fill water valve for a week in advance. It is amazing how much water evaporates in a week with the weather as hot as it's been!

I also used my discovery from last time (to stir up the dirt off the bottom with the brush so that it mixes with the water and can be pumped out rather than shop-vac'd out). It saved us (my mom and I) so much time last time! It was a real PITA having to drag the full shop vac back in forth to the sink in the garage to empty it every few minutes before that and it cut back on our trips last time.

This time I was actually able to cut back on the trips even more! I kept the pump out even as I hosed down some of the dirt left behind and pumped out the water I added to get it clean. Amazingly, I only had to empty the shop vac once the entire time I was cleaning it! I know it may not sound like much, but water is heavy and half of it ends up on the person carrying it unless you walk very, very slowly.

Side note from after the fact: Don't drain and clean water feature just before the gardener comes to do the yard. He ends up blowing a bunch of crap into the water! Either that or I need a cover for when he comes.