Cyanobacteria & Cyanotoxin Mitigation For Lakes, Reservoirs and Ponds

The key component for effective cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) control is to circulate just the upper "top water" of the lake also known as the active epilimnetic circulation.

Ixom Watercare has two active lake circulation technologies to help fight against cyanobacteria and improve lake health & quality.

• SolarBee® Lake Circulators
  (up to 35 acres per circulator)
• AerationPlus© Lake & Pond Circulators
  (nearshore up to 8 acres per circulator).

Active epilimnetic circulation bolsters four probable mechanisms to fight against harmful algal blooms. They are listed below or you can also watch the whiteboard video!

Four Cyanobacteria Mitigation Mechanisms

1) Active epilimnetic circulation helps other organisms outcompete cyanobacteria.

Active epilimnetic circulation can eliminate the problem of bacteria being limited by organic carbon. This means beneficial good green algae, diatoms, and bacteria can compete to use up available dissolved nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in the epilimnion all season. Since good green algae and diatoms start early in the spring, circulation causes the epilimnion to stay "short" of N and P all summer. Without sufficient N and P, cyanobacteria have difficulty gaining traction.

2) Active epilimnetic circulation disrupts cyanobacteria buoyancy adjustment.

Active epilimnetic circulation can take away the buoyancy-adjusting advantage of cyanobacteria. Upflow radial circulation (i.e. SolarBee and AerationPlus) brings cyanobacteria up to the surface where they can be damaged or destroyed by by ultra-violet radiation.

3) Active epilimnetic circulation helps grow larger zooplankton.

Active epilimnetic circulation helps increase zooplankton populations and overall size. When other food sources are depleted, the larger zooplankton can crop down cyanobacteria to some degree.

4) Active epilimnetic circulation better distributes cyanophages.

Active epilimnetic circulation helps distribute cyanobacteria targeting viruses called cyanophages. Cyanophages kill an estimated 30% of cyanobacteria naturally even without circulation. By increasing cyanophage / cyanobacteria interaction, more cyanobacteria are sickened and killed.

Watch Featured Lake Videos

What about wind mixing?

Wind mixing is not always reliable or effective. With wind mixing, all streamlines are parallel and very shallow (perhaps a foot or two deep). The only effect is to pile water higher on the leeward side of the lake which then creates a "backflow" across the thermocline. 

Featured Lake Videos

See more lake videos in our Video Resources Library!

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