Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To unplug my neighbours pond filter

19 replies

BeanBag7 · 26/08/2019 17:03

We have loved in our house for 5 years and never had a big issue with the neighbours. There have been a few things we havent seen eye-to-eye on e.g. we wanted to replace a fence and they refused, nothing major.

The last 3 days (the nice weather bank holiday days) they've had a very noisy, buzzy machine of some sort in their pond. I think they've gone away for the weekend, or at least out each day and just left this thing running. The problem is I'm trying to relax in my garden and all I can hear is this loud, low droning noise. AIBU to go round there and pull the plug out?

OP posts:
plunkplunkfizz · 26/08/2019 17:03

Do they have fish?

TyrionsNextWife · 26/08/2019 17:06

It could be that the water’s evaporated below the filter line and there’s not enough water in the system and that’s why you’re hearing it now. I don’t know about unplugging it yourself, but you should definitely mention it to them so they can turn it off in case it’s getting damaged.

Witchofzog · 26/08/2019 17:07

If they have fish then yabvu and you will also be trespassing.

Whatafackinliberty · 26/08/2019 17:08

If they have fish then you're a thoroughly unpleasant piece of shit.

Pinkblueberry · 26/08/2019 17:08

YABVU. It may be a nuisance, but you don’t know what it is and why it’s on. And you can’t just break into people’s gardens and in plug random things Confused you say you think they’re away for the weekend - have you knocked on to check?

Fireinthegrate · 26/08/2019 17:09

Yes you would be unreasonable to turn it off. They obviously have fish and need to keep the pond clear of weed and fallen leaves etc.
When they get back from holiday ask them about it and see if it’s feasible for it to be off in the daytime and on at nightime. I don’t know if that can be done or not. Ours is on full time but we have no close neighbours

Original poster
BeanBag7 · 26/08/2019 17:10

I'm pretty sure they dont have fish. They've had the pond the whole 5 years and never had this thing going before from what I can remember. Also it isn't on overnight, if they had fish wouldn't it be on 24/7.

OP posts:
Original poster
BeanBag7 · 26/08/2019 17:10

Their car isn't there so they're definitely out at the moment

OP posts:
Dellow · 26/08/2019 17:12

It is probably an air pump
Of some sort to keep enough oxygen in the water during the hot weather. If that’s what it is you could kill the fish by unplugging it. Speak to them about it but don’t unplug it whatever you do !!!

Witchofzog · 26/08/2019 17:12

Regardless, it's still not yours to unplug. You can't just walk into someone's garden and unplug their property. There will be a reason it is on. If you were my neighbour and did this I would be mightily pissed off with you.

Original poster
BeanBag7 · 26/08/2019 17:13

OK thanks for putting me straight. I'll leave it and talk to them when they get back.

OP posts:
Anotherusefulname · 26/08/2019 17:16

We have a pump running in our pond 24/7. We don't have a fountain much as I would like one because of the noise. If someone turned it off especially in this hot weather our fish would likely struggle maybe even die.
Also our neighbours don't necessarily know the fish are there, they hide when people walk past and only regularly surface for food.

Branster · 26/08/2019 17:16

It sounds like the water level dropped below the filter part of the pump (not sure of the exact name) - it is incredibly noisy when it happens (we have a similar setup for a wall water feature where water evaporates or splashes our really quickly because the reservoir is too small, for the actual pond with fish that would never happen because the water is too deep to evaporate over one weekend), so they’ll come back to a broken piece of equipment and dead fish (if they have any fish in there to start with). You can’t go and turn it off, it would be trespassing.

Original poster
BeanBag7 · 26/08/2019 17:29

Should I go and stick more water in their pond then?

OP posts:
Original poster
BeanBag7 · 26/08/2019 17:32

Well it seems to have gone off now even though they're still out so who knows 🤷‍♀️

OP posts:
1forAll74 · 26/08/2019 17:48

You will have to leave the pond thingy, the neighbours have a pond,and they probably know what they are doing. And anyway,,it's probably not as annoying as a recent thread topic,, which was loads of buzzing killer wasps in someones garden !!

theunrivalledjoysofparenting · 26/08/2019 17:54

Talk to them when they get back. Sounds like a pump. Perhaps they’re going to add fish to the pond and want the water to be oxygenated?

theunrivalledjoysofparenting · 26/08/2019 17:54

But it shouldn’t be that loud! Our pump powers a waterfall so you can hear the waterfall, not the pump.

Fireinthegrate · 27/08/2019 15:24

Beanbag
Don’t put more water in the pond. You need to add something with it to counteract the chlorine in the tap water, otherwise that will kill the fish.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page