Ponds, Lakes, Canals or River Remediation with Bioaugmentation

Eutrophication:
The introduction of an excessive amount of contaminants and nutrients (notably nitrogen and phosphorus) into an aquatic ecosystem causes a proliferation of algae.

Some algae grow on carbon sources, but many utilize excess N and P.  Decomposing algae consumes a great deal of oxygen, endangering fish and other aquatic animals. Eutrophication occurs most often in ecosystems where water is renewed very slowly, such as deep lakes.

Untreated sewage and agricultural runoff flowing into a lake or stream may result in eutrophication. A eutrophic body of water is one rich in dissolved nutrients, such as phosphates (-PO4-3) from detergents, fertilizers, and manure. Because of the high concentration of dissolved nutrients, algae will typically proliferate, die, and sink to the bottom. Here, their decomposition by bacteria requires a great deal of oxygen - i.e. the BOD goes up. If oxygen levels drop too low, the oxygen-requiring organisms, like fish, might be killed. In fact, some eutrophic lakes may become anaerobic (with all the aerobic life dying) if the BOD becomes too high.

Biological Oxygen Demand is the amount of oxygen needed to degrade the organic matter contained in effluent biologically. The BOD is determined by the level of organic matter in the discharge into a watercourse. If the nutrient level is too high, it results in the bacteria and other micro-organisms expanding rapidly. This depletes the available oxygen supply causing fish and other aquatic organisms to suffocate.

What is Chemical Oxygen Demand?

A COD test measures all organic carbon with the exception of certain aromatics (benzene, toluene, phenol, etc.)  which are not completely oxidized in the reaction.  COD is a chemically chelated/thermal oxidation reaction, and therefore, other reduced substances such as sulfides, sulfites, and ferrous iron will also be oxidized and reported as COD.   NH3-N (ammonia) will NOT be oxidized as COD.

Algae can cause serious problems in ponds if not controlled. They produce large quantities of oxygen during the day but the decay of dying algae demands oxygen in considerable quantities also, resulting in severe oxygen depletion overnight. In conditions of heavy algae infestation aquatic plants become vulnerable to pests and diseases and fish become distressed.

Algae can be found growing in ponds, lakes, in clarifiers, de-chlorination tanks, etc. More than 10,000 living diatom species are known, there are over 8,000 species of Algae, there are 1500 species of Blue Green algae or Cyanobacteria, there are 6000 species of red algae or Rhodophyta . . the list goes on and on- ok, so identification is not as important as why is it growing, how it impacts my plant and how to get rid of it!

With Summer time here, and lots of plants, ornamental ponds, lakes and lagoons having difficulties with Algae control, we are going to put together a few pages on our website on plants and their issues. Then we will put together the types of algae that can be found as an FYI, because in reality, most of the algae that are growing in your plant, regardless of species, need to be controlled and removed!

Algae Controls and Algae Solutions:

There are various different controls depending upon the type of system, the cause and the location of the algae, maintenance, weir brushed, sprayers, manual scraping, control of nutrients, biological products, chlorination,  etc.. See our troubleshooting guide for Algae problems.

Bioaugmentation in Ponds and Lakes for Algae Issues

Many of you have purchased product for algae control in ponds. Here is a way to make your program more active.

Algae control in ponds is about a time and numbers game. How much nutrients are there; excess debris like leaves and decaying matter. The bacteria are added to outcompete the algae and duckweed for the nutrients and organics. Rain, run-off, temperature, fallen dead trees and leaves, even wind can impact how sufficient the bacterial program is. You may need to change your dosing schedule after these events!

For smaller ponds, sometimes the cost of the biological product can be a bit prohibitive to keep up with heavy rains. One way to cheat is to grow up the product prior to adding to the lagoon. Some paper mills have 40-60 million gallon lagoons, and may use 2-3000 lbs of product a month in the winter time! That can get costly, so we use a "Biofeeder" to get more bang for the buck from the product.

Bacteria grow and multiply in 20 minutes to 2 hours! With the proper environment, you can grow up the product, and effectively get more product into the lagoons. We purposely package the products in one lb. water soluble bags so there is no mess or need to have to touch the product, but for cases where more is needed, and the cost is a little prohibitive, there are ways to cheat! Yes, I know I am telling you how to buy less of our products! Our goal is not to make the most money off of you, but to solve your problems!

While you are not going to make a huge commercial biofeeder, the concept is the same.

Take a 5-10 gallon container with warm water, go get a small fish pump and aerator stone at the local Wal-Mart, Home Depot, etc. and put one lb. of product into the container with the warm water. The pump will mix and aerate the bacteria. Do this for anywhere from 4-8 hours.

You will have doubled or tripled the amount of bacteria you are going to add to the pond. Make sure, if possible, to put it in more than one point, or in a spot where there is quite a bit of algae located, near the fountains or aerators you have. Always clean out the container before using again! And no, more time is not better. There is only a limited amount of food and nutrients on the bran carrier that the product is supplied with. We have found that after 18 hours, the activity starts to drop off, so no real gains are made!!

Aeration and mixing are also critical. Without these, all the bacteria in the world are going to settle and not reach the edges of the pond where they were not distributed. pH is also critical in a large pond. If you have the ability to impact these variables, the program will be more successful! Good luck and let me know if you have any questions. See additional available file on Biofeeders!

Typical control parameters to test and monitor:

For small ponds-COD or TOC, N and P values to determine loading demand on your pond if large enough.  Small “fish tank” test kits can be bought at your local hardware store and these will test N and P levels very quickly and cheaply. Since this is more a remediation for the visual purposes more than for regulatory controls and permit requirements, the results will be good enough to help guide you in your treatment and evaluation of results.

For Large rivers or lakes:

Where other sources of runoff or discharges to the river are it is a good idea to know that the incoming flow contains. Typical tests required are flow, BOD or COD, TKN, pH and P.  If there are oils and grease, these too should be determined. Bioaugmentation is not very hard or expensive, it is more an issue of controlling the Critical 5. See newsletter on Critical 5. Most Rivers or canals if they have a high enough flow that they get pretty good DO. Usually the program is based upon the amount of carbons to be removed and the nutrient levels present.  A remediation program can be based upon a closed system with current levels of contamination, or in some cases where rivers or canals have ongoing upstream contributions, a short term remediation program along with a long term maintenance program is required.

Mixing and Aeration:

These are the two largest things that will speed up any treatment program. In small ponds that are not very deep and do not have a current like a lake or river, static water has less Oxygen as well as mixing. The bacteria need to be able to move around in order to get at the contaminants. They will settle to the bottom of the pond if not mixed or stirred.

Bioaugmentation products that are used: In most cases where low levels of carbon or excess nutrients are present due to runoff, leaves decaying or animal waste, MicroClear^® 101 is sufficient to help clean up the contaminants.

Click on the Links below for Product Bulletins of each:

1    MicroClear^® 101 is a high potency, bacteria layden powdered formulation for algae solutions.

2    MicroClear^® AC for Saltwater Ponds, Rivers and Canals with Algae Issues.

3    MicroBlock™ is a solid, bacterial laden, brick for use in degrading organics.

The safe, naturally occurring bacteria are present in high numbers to handle difficult organic problems.  The unique brick will gradually dissolve over a 35-120 day period which allows for continuous treatment and degradation of waste. The naturally occurring bacteria contained in the block will reduce odor, sludge, fats, oils and grease buildup. This product can also be placed in rivers, lakes and ponds to remediate.

Soil Remediation

Industrial zone Alon Tavor Israel
Plant Issues
900 m3 of Contaminated Soil.
Pollution: Crude oil.

Several option where evaluated and E. H. Green/Environmental Leverage bioaugmentation program solution was elected.

Due to the Hydrologic Area which the plant is located in ,the EPA of Israel instructed the plant to move the soil or reduce the TPH (Total petroleum Hydrocarbons) from 842 to 1000 ppm. Initial proposal assumed that it would take a few months due to high heat in the summer, and mainly the amount of soil and contamination to treat. After two weeks, TPH was down to 311, the following week, 133.

Final TPH levels were pulled at 4 locations- 38, 39,81 and 37 were the final TPH readings, ~90-95.6% reduction in TPH ( Total petroleum Hydrocarbons)
80% cost reduction in treating the soil biologically including labor, nutrients, biological products, etc vs. hauling out the dirt as hazardous waste~

Starting of the project was on the 04/12/2008.