P Patrick Keegan 6 years ago Most lakes are using copper sulfate to control algae blooms. I believe it hurts the eco-system. What are the natural alternatives?
P phadmin 6 years ago Patrick you are correct to be concerned. Although the judicious use of copper based algaecides can be part of your lake management “tool box”, excessive use of these algaecides or reliance on them as the primary management tool is a mistake and can actually worsen lake water quality (both short term and long term) and increase the occurrence of cyanobacteria blooms. Ultimately a lake management plan focused on controlling algae blooms needs to focus on nutrient management…simply put the less “food”, the less algae. So anything that can be done to decrease phosphorus and nitrogen loading to a lake is very important. Other solutions will be largely dictated by specific lake conditions but include aeration, floating wetland islands, barely straw, and certain types of nutrient inactivants. And there are also the peroxide based algaecides that do not have a copper residual. The selection of a specific option or group of options should be guided by data; never a good idea to just give something a try. Also keep in mind regulations differ state-to-state, so the implementation of some of these management techniques may require a permit. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me and the Princeton Hydro team with any questions or comments.
P phadmin 6 years ago Patrick you are correct to be concerned. Although the judicious use of copper based algaecides can be part of your lake management “tool box”, excessive use of these algaecides or reliance on them as the primary management tool is a mistake and can actually worsen lake water quality (both short term and long term) and increase the occurrence of cyanobacteria blooms. Ultimately a lake management plan focused on controlling algae blooms needs to focus on nutrient management…simply put the less “food”, the less algae. So anything that can be done to decrease phosphorus and nitrogen loading to a lake is very important. Other solutions will be largely dictated by specific lake conditions but include aeration, floating wetland islands, barely straw, and certain types of nutrient inactivants. And there are also the peroxide based algaecides that do not have a copper residual. The selection of a specific option or group of options should be guided by data; never a good idea to just give something a try. Also keep in mind regulations differ state-to-state, so the implementation of some of these management techniques may require a permit. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me and the Princeton Hydro team with any questions or comments.