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Writer's pictureNayan Khan

How to remove cooling pond algae


Filamentous algae, commonly called “Moss”, is prevalent in many organically rich pond environments including cooling ponds.  This moss covers the surface of the pond and can eventually clog water pumps, pump house grates and screens and is aesthetically displeasing.

Chemicals can kill the algae, but the breakdown of these plants just adds more nutrients for the next generation of algae.  Plus many cooling pond owners don’t want these chemicals within their cooling systems.  Physical removal of the algae is a time consuming operation and is short lasting.  The algae soon reappears usually in just a few short days.  All these remedies are actually just a band aid to the problem.  The real issue is deeper which we will soon address.

Get to the Root of the Problem

Effectively controlling algae involves the control of the algae’s resources.  Algae need three resources in order to thrive – taking away the availability of these resources gives you the upper hand when controlling this pesky aquatic plant.

The first resource is its food source.  By removing the organic material in a pond we will greatly affect the ability of the algae to grow.

MuckSuckers / Sediment Removal Solutions of Ohio provides an efficient and cost effective way to pump this organic material out of the pond without the use of heavy equipment.  There is also no need to drain the pond which may not even be a viable solution for the pond owner since the water is necessary for plant operations.

The second resource that algae need to survive is water.  Obviously we can’t just get rid of the water, but we can manipulate it.  Algae thrives in stagnant stratified water.  By adding an aeration system, the pond owner can create an environment in the pond that is less desirable for the plant, therefore decreasing the population of algae.

The third resource is sunlight.  Without sunlight algae cannot thrive.  Although it can be quite an impossibility to block all sunlight from reaching the pond, adding pond dye can help limit a certain amount of sunlight from reaching the ponds bottom where the algae starts growing.

 

We hope that this has been an informative look at how to reduce or totally remove algae from cooling ponds. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us today!

Call us (1-877-772-MUCK) or email us!

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