Aeration is the process of adding oxygen to water. Maintaining healthy levels of dissolved oxygen (DO), one of the most, if not the most important water quality parameter, in your pond aids in the breakdown of decaying vegetation and other sources of nutrients that enter your pond. This breakdown of bottom silt is carried out by microorganisms at the water/soil interface and continues to proceed a few centimeters deep in the soil. This decomposition can be carried out in two ways, aerobically and/or anaerobically.
Aerobic decomposition requires a continuous supply of oxygen and proceeds more rapidly as dissolved oxygen concentrations near saturation levels. The rate of degradation of organic matter in anaerobic conditions is not as rapid as under aerobic conditions, and the end products are organic compounds, such as alcohols and foul-smelling organic acids (the sulfur pond muck smell!). In other words, the decomposition is slower and less complete in anaerobic environments than in aerobic habitats where the primary end product of decomposition is carbon dioxide. So, what we can learn from this is, the more decomposition we can facilitate, through the addition of oxygen with aeration, the less nutrients there will be available for algae blooms and excess aquatic plant growth.
In ponds, the introduction of oxygen via some type of aeration device can:
Each pond, lake, or body of water is unique and not each method or application of aeration will work in each pond. It is important to talk to someone who has experience and knowledge of aeration devices to help decide which method is best for you.
There are two types of aeration: surface and sub-surface: