How to Maintain Pond Skating Rinks

Dawn's light barely creeps over the horizon, bathing the frozen pond behind your house in shades of purple and orange. It is cold; your breath materializes in the air as you strap on ice skates. It is a perfect winter morning and a perfect skate. It is your personal skating pond, and you can help keep it as close to flawless as possible by properly maintaining the pond over the course of the winter.

Things You'll Need

  • Snow shovel
  • Broom
  • Garbage can
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Instructions

    • 1

      Use a snow shovel to remove excess snow from the surface of the rink daily. Push the excess snow into the banks surrounding your rink; according to backyardrinks.com, excess snow on the rink will melt and create bumps on the surface of the rink.

    • 2

      Sweep away sticks or debris that remain on the rink after shoveling off the snow.

    • 3

      Look for the highest ice level on the rink. To do this, note the ice line along the sides of the rink wall. Finding the spot with the highest ice level will help you level the surface of the rink when you flood it.

    • 4

      To level the ice, wait until after the sun goes down on a night when the temperature for the next two nights is expected to drop below freezing and the wind level will be minimal.

    • 5

      Fill a standard-size garbage can with warm to hot water. Using warm to hot water strengthens the ice surface and tends to provide an even surface free of ripples or "slush bumps."

    • 6

      Flood the rink with the water from the garbage can by pouring the water into the rink at the rink's highest point. The water will flow from the higher part of the rink to the lower part and fill in cracks and holes.