I live on an approximately 30 acre lake, with 150 ft of frontage. It's a healthy BOW, but with that also come submerged vegetation and muck that makes swimming prohibitive. I have been tossing around the idea of aerating an area along my frontage to promote mixing, thereby improving the conditions for the goal of using it to swim, but curious what this forum might think about the local effects in such a large BOW.
I'm a DIY kind of guy and had considered a HIBLOW HP-80 Pond Aerator with sinking hose and building a couple of aerator rings of diffusion hose to place and occasionally move around within the area I'm targeting (Depths ranging from 0 (shoreline) to 6 ft, which probably represents a target area of 25ft by 40ft (1,000 ft2). That particular model is stated for capacity (80L/min) and designed for ponds up to 1/2 acre at 10' or less in depth, so more than adequate for the Area/Volume I am targeting, but far less than the overall size of the BOW.
I don't know a lot about aeration, but others here certainly do.
I do recall reading on the forum that sometimes aerating at a capacity less than what is required could do more harm than good, but let's see what others have to say.
Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:" "She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."
Placing your homemade diffuser in your frontage ranging from 4ft to 6ft deep, AND periodically every two weeks move the diffuser to a different area of your frontage could make a noticeable difference of the bottom area of your property frontage . Ideally IMO the more often you can move the diffuser the better the muck will be reduced. This plan could provide improved benefits of muck digestion. IMO your goal is to not mix the water above the sediment but to mix, agitate and oxygenate the sediment layer that the diffuser is lying in. The lifted oxygenated sediment will be quickly be lifted and dispersed to another area where it can be optimally decomposed because it is now oxygenated. Anytime one looses oxygen in organic material decomposition is drastically reduced and muck accumulates.
For your special situation, I would let the diffuser tubing frame sit flat on/in the bottom sediment to maximally lift sediment and mix the general bottom zone area to better oxygenate the sediment for improved muck oxygenation and movement of the sediments. Improved oxygenation of the sediments will enhance and diversify the benthic macroinvertebrate community consisting of worms and insect larvae that initially process the organic sediments. Bacterial decomposition are the final processers.
In addition I would buy some of the muck digesting pellets or nuggets composed of decomposing bacteria and place several muck digester nuggets in each new area where the diffuser is working. These two things of sediment mixing and added bacteria digesters should help digest and reduce the mucky layer areas where the diffuser has bubbled for 1-2 weeks. Over the summer this method should help reduce the amount of muck in your frontage area. If water is clear enough or someone walks in the diffuser operation zone try and notice if muck has diminished during the summer. This visual or personal touching evaluation will help you decide how and if to proceed with this method in 2023. Please report back here how your plan is working during the summer.
Normally I am not a big fan of microbe bacterial additions for ponds especially if the water has not been chemically treated for algae. However in your case study, I think the muck digester additions will do no harm and may actually improve muck digestion in your lake frontage area. This is not to say the productivity of the lake will not add it's annual organic deposits to your lake frontage each year. Some examples of bacterial muck digesters:
Weeders Digest ShoreTech Industries - Muck Reducer Pellets https://weedersdigest.com/shore-tech-muck-reducer-pellets-lake-pond-sludge-remover-bacteria/ Laboratory formulated from high performance beneficial bacteria, bio-vitamins, probiotics & enzymes specifically designed for breaking down & eliminating organic sludge buildup on the bottom of in lakes and ponds along with degrading floating algae mats. Helps clear water and restore healthy oxygen levels
IMO the muck digester pellets will perform better if the sediments are mixed, agitated, and aerated by random and frequent diffuser relocation . If interested they make a muck or sludge measurement tool called a 'sludge judge'. Sewage plants use this device. This device if used properly would help evaluate your muck reduction of the frontage area over time. For comparison you could use this tool to also estimate the amount of muck in other nearby areas of the lake.
What I have also done to a small area (Maybe 20' W x 50'L) to get a fast result was take the Mastercraft, tie the boat to a tree on shore, put it in gear and at a little bit above an idle let the prop wash the loose muck away from an area. Yes, the prop wash was directed at the shore, but the lighter organics hit the shore and bounced back into the deeper water on either side of the boat. It didn't take long to work an area down to clean sand.
I'm not saying NOT to use the aeration and pellets, I think that's a good idea but for an almost immediate result in a small area the boat worked pretty quickly.
There are no doubt several ways for dealing with organic muck on pond bottoms. Without removing it, I think the goal is to digest or decompose it when it is diffused on mixed with oxygenated water. Ponds are collection basins with no way of flushing it unless the pond has a strong flow through system,
Last edited by Bill Cody; 04/03/2204:56 PM.
aka Pond Doctor & Dr. Perca Read Pond Boss Magazine - America's Journal of Pond Management
So, I went down the rabbit hole on youtube of everblue lakes, a company that aerates entire lakes to fix issues they have. What I think you are looking for is something like the Airstream High Volum Water Circulation system. Here are a couple of links to it in action. If I remember right, there are other brands that remind me of a trolling motor that swivels like a fan. The water movement slowly but surely removes it. The AirStream looks like it adds air with it to further help the aerobic bacteria dissolve the muck. If you want to DIY it you may be able to take a trash pump, hang it off your dock and direct the flow. Or buy a kit like this https://weedersdigest.com/aqua-thru...npJnGuAh1QWHRlD5zFhto8P7rzoaAvDDEALw_wcB or this https://www.thepondguy.com/product/...uPmmAPgQvz42jBKWJSpfdt0TkDQaAs6sEALw_wcB and you can combine it with the aeration system under the motors so it acts like the fancy AirStream system.
yes mechanical disruption to allow oxygen in, under, around the pile of settled anoxic solids is key. Raking, dragging something through the pond bottom, using a powerwasher, trash pump, blowing water with a commercial ice melt system, or using the prop wash of a motor boat or jet ski are all ways to do this.
