Lake Maintenance and Restoration
Lake therapy is a way of achieving long term improvements to water quality in ponds and lakes, in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner. It focuses on enhancing the overall health of the pond or lake, and with this comes the benefits of improved water quality.
So how do I know I have an issue?
If your pond or lake is showing any of the following symptoms, then further investigations should be made:
- Gasping and/or dead fish.
- Pungent smells/odours.
- An iridescent film on the water
- Green streaks, Algae and blue green Algae
- Loss of plant growth
- Significant increase in bubbles
- Reduction in water depth due to silt accumulation.
No two bodies of water are ever the same in terms of environmental make up and conditions, so before any proposals are put forward, we need to obtain a basic understanding of what is occurring in the pond or lake.
The process normally starts with a scientific appraisal of water and silt samples combined with a topography and bathymetric survey. The appraisal will look at the results of these investigations, compile a working proposal on how water quality can be improved, and the best way to go about applying this.
We work closely with Oase UK, and are premier partners for their Lake therapy products. These products are aimed at providing long term cost effective solutions that are safe and beneficial for the environment as well as the client.
We can tackle a number of issues, some of which are listed below:
Excess Algae growth.
Both filamentous and Cyanobacter (blue-green) Algaes can cause serious safety issues, but rather than being the problem, they are generally a symptom of another issue, normally high phosphate and nitrate levels. In terms of short-term fixes, we have had good results with Algolon, which actively removes filamentous algae in a few days at most.
The next image shows a lake just after Algolon treatment:
The above photo was taken an hour after initial application of Algolon, and then the following day the lake looked like this:
In the photo above, the filamentous algae “blanket weed” has been reduced to the green scum you see on the surface, while the bed of the lake can now be clearly seen, something that wasn’t possible before the treatment.
The only thing left to do now is to remove the floating debris off the surface and dispose of it away from the water course.
Please note, the rate of effect of Algolon is dependant on water temperature. Long term solutions would be better focused on reducing the phosphate levels, which can be carried out using SeeDox or SchlixX products.
Oxygen deficiency.
Low dissolved oxygen will have a detrimental effect on various aspects of your pond or lake and identifying the cause(s) is the first step to putting things right. We can offer short term solutions in dire situations where fish stocks maybe lost, but in general we would look to rectify the aeration and respiration balance for a more long-term sustainable solution.
Sludge accumulation.
This is a natural occurrence in any body of water. The rate at which the sludge accumulates will depend on many factors, such as surrounding geology, catchment use and flora and fauna around and within the lake. The accumulation of silt/sludge can cause problems with the overall health of the lake. These silts tend to harbour phosphates and nitrates, as well as the decay of organic matter significantly reducing the dissolved oxygen levels within the lake.
The ultimate solution tends to be removal of the silt, however this can be extremely costly and disruptive, this is why we have developed solutions which reduce the frequency at which this operation needs to occur. Oase’ SchlixX and SchlixX plus have been developed to help reduce the organic content of silts and sediment. They contain specially developed mico-organisms which digest the organic component of silt, with the only by products being inert silts and energy. The energy developed isn’t significant, and won’t affect the temperature of the water body. Best results to date have shown up to a 50% reduction in silt volume post treatment.
Even if your pond or like requires dredging/desilting works, treating with Schlixx beforehand can significantly reduce the costs involved. Further treatment post dredging can also yield benefits to water quality as any free nutrients generated by the dredging process can be isolated to prevent further unsightly algae growth.
Aeration.
Healthy water requires stable levels of dissolved oxygen, but installing a suitable aeration system can offer more benefits than just putting bubbles into the water. Careful planning can help reduce overall temperatures throughout the lake, and also reduce losses due to evaporation.
Desilting/ dredging.
Sometimes the accumulation of silt/ nutrients can be too significant to address with basic lake therapy products, and the only way forward is mechanical removal.
We have cleaned out countless ponds and lakes over the years and have developed an excellent understanding of the most cost effective way of carrying out these works.
If the conditions and space allow, silt removal via floating dredger tends to be the most cost effective way forward. This requires minimal access into the pond or lake, and essentially involves mixing the silt into a slurry before being sucked up and sent down a pipe. From the pipe this slurry can then be deposited into a silt bag or lagoon. The image below shows a silt bag in the de-watering stage:
Silt bags offer a convenient way of dewatering the silt without the requirement for the large earthworks required for building slurry lagoons.
In the most extreme conditions, the only way of recovering a pond or lake will involve sending in the diggers as a last resort!
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