Pond / Lake Health
Pond and lakes are a valuable natural resource. They
add to the beauty of the landscape, provide recreation, are a
habitat for fish and wildlife and an additional water source if
needed. However, the good health of a pond is held in a delicate
balance. A pond's condition deteriorates when the bottom
environment cannot support animal life. The bottom is the area
that runs out of oxygen first, it is where the most oxygen is
used and it is the farthest from the surface where it is
replenished. Without oxygen a lake or ponds self purification
capability is not only reduced, it is reversed. The small
animals, snails, worms, bacteria, etc., which help keep a pond
clean cannot live and the pond's nutrients are then recycled from
the sediment. This forms a layer of muck at the bottom which
serves as a fertilizer for weed and excessive algae growth. It
could also cause large fish kills.
Benefits of Pond and Lake Bed Aeration
Aeration means adding air to the water. To restore a lake to
health, it is essential to get oxygen down to the lake bottom.
Lake Bed Aeration™ not only adds oxygen to the surface water but
to the water at the bottom of the lake as well. Once the lake is
full of oxygen near the bottom, beneficial aquatic insect
larvae, snails, fresh water shrimp, and other fish food can
begin to live on the bottom and littoral zone (light zone).
Lake eutrophication begins when the BOD
(Biological Oxygen Demand) of a lake cannot be met. When too
much pollution enters a lake, plant and algae growth dies and
sinks to the bottom, resulting in an overload of organic sludge.
Lower forms of life on the lake bed die and this debris rots.
Anaerobic bacteria, which needs no oxygen, give off deadly
poisonous gases, such as hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, and methane.
These gases, as they rise through the water, unite with and bind
up and dissolved oxygen remaining in the water. Fish will then
die from lack of oxygen. By pumping compressed air out onto the
lake bed diffuser, the rising air bubbles bring the bottom water
to the surface. Large volumes of water release pollutant gases
to the air and pick up more oxygen while on the surface. If
oxygen is present at the lake bed, dead organisms will not
accumulate but will quickly be consumed by aerobic bacteria,
thus providing for a healthier lake environment.
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