Initially I wasn't intending to post of Hotcopper again this...

Initially I wasn't intending to post of Hotcopper again this week, having been a little pressed for time lately.However, over the past week while doing some research into the topic of the algae problems in various locations around the world, I noticed a couple of recent articles that directly related to Phoslock, and thought it would be a great shame not to mention these here. Apart from that, they should make for some nice weekend reading.

A few days back, when I was reading about the algae situation in the US, I came across some reports on the serious situation in Lake Erie, the great lake that straddles the border between the United States and Canada.

Lake Erie has been plagued by algae blooms for years, largely caused by phosphorus runoff from surrounding farms, and expectations are for another horror summer this year.

In an effort to counter this lingering problem, Ohio's governor, Mike DeWine on Thursday signed a two-year budget deal, which includes US $172 million for improving the water quality in Lake Erie. The Governor has previously stated that the lion's share of the funding would be directed at the problem of farm runoff that has been bleeding into waterways.

Long holders with long memories might recall that in August last year, Geoffo (I think Mickem referred to this as well) posted a link to an article from a local Canadian news site, the Chatham Voice, which described a phoslock filtration system that was being tested in a farm near Lake Erie (for those who came in late, a quick read through the earlier posts in this thread should fill in the details, a link to the original article is in the first post.)

Early this month, that same masthead had an update on the Lake Erie situation, including some details on the aforementioned phoslcok filtration system. The report commences with some commentary on the algae forecast for Lake Erie over the months ahead:

Experts project the potential for a nasty year for an algae bloom on Lake Erie.

This despite the fact we’ve had a colder than normal spring.

Charles Lalonde, project co-ordinator for the Thames River Phosphorous Reduction Collaborative (PRC), said while the spring was cooler, it was much, much wetter as well.

“We had so many huge rain events that it has probably flushed out more soil particles and more nutrients. It may not be a peak year for an algae bloom, but it’s not going to be a minimal year,” Lalonde said.

He added government predictions, on a scale of one to 10 with 10 being the highest, has this year pegged at between six and seven, whereas last year was a four.

Lalonde said the telling signs begin well before the bloom actually occurs.

“What people tend to say is we have an algae bloom when we can see it. But many, many weeks before, there is a build up. The clarity of the water changes because the algae population is active,” he said.

Further into the article, there is a description of the phoslock filtering system which is being tested as part of the Lake Erie Action Plan, a target by the Canadian province of Ontario to reduce phosphorus loadings in the western and central basins of Lake Erie by 40% by 2025.

The PRC is attacking the issue from several directions.

“We’re developing and testing various ways to mitigate phosphorous loss through the drainage system. Others are looking at how to introduce best-management practices to limit soil erosion. All of these efforts are being introduced to try to mitigate a very small amount of fertilizer that is lost,” he said.

Most of what is lost occurs in late fall and through the winter.

Lalonde said the loss is typically associated with extreme weather events. Lalonde credits local farmers with being proactive in the phosphorous fight.

“The farming community is working with the drainage industry, with cities, with conservation authorities and with environmental groups to see if we can address the water issue that is leaving the farms.

One test site is on a 25-acre field owned by local farmer Louis Roesch. Last summer, a phosphorous reduction and monitoring system was added to the tail end of the tiling system. The water that came off that field went through the filtration system before entering the adjacent municipal drain.

The system features two holding tanks, a catch basin, and two automated and programmable water testing stations. After a heavy rain, the runoff flows into the first holding tank, where it is filtered through mulch and Phoslock – a patented phosphorous-locking technology. It goes into the second tank and through the same filtering process before slowly draining into the catch basin. From there it is discharged into the municipal drain.

Colin Little with the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority said the filter is designed to help achieve the goal of 40-per-cent phosphorous reduction as outlined in the Lake Erie Action Plan, a joint initiative of the Ontario and federal governments.

Lalonde said over the next couple of years, the partners on the PRC will be looking at all the testing and generate results to see what is the most effective form of reduction.

Phosphorous reduction efforts continue across region

I should note that the Phoslock filtration system described above is being tested in Canada, not in Ohio, where the $170 million has been committed over the next two years to reducing the adverse impact of phosphorus and nitrogen runoff.

However, as this June report from a local US news site makes clear, the 40% phosphorus reduction target is a shared commitment between the Ontario Premier, Doug Ford, as well as the Governors of two US states that border Lake Erie, Ohio's Governor, Mike DeWine, and the Governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer. So you would assume that the Phoslock filtration system, if adopted in Canada, is also likely to be rolled out in Ohio and Michigan as well.

Apart from China, over the past several weeks, much of the discussion on the PET threads has focused on the promise of Florida. But as is highlighted above, the North American story is about more than Florida.

Lake Erie is the 11th largest lake in the world, and so if the Phoslock filtration system is rolled out around the shores of this lake that would be a major deal for this company.

Beyond North America, there is one other region that I think has lately been overlooked, Europe. Over recent weeks, there has been a swathe of German and Dutch language articles on the 'Blaualgen/Blauwalg' scourge that is so often a cause of consternation around this time of year in Europe.

A few recent reports on this topic from the Netherlands caught my attention, however.

The reason for this is that these articles quote an Ecologist by the name of Dr Miquel Lurling. This is interesting, because at a recent algae conference at Fort Laurderdale in Florida, Miquel Lurling was the representative of Phoslock Environmental Technologies.

Given that Lurling seems to work for the company, it is intriguing to see what he has to say.

The most recent article, which appears to have been published just within the last 24 hours, is about a company called LG Sonic, which operates buoys that analyse and combat blue-green algae using ultrasound.

Note that all these articles are in Dutch, and so having run it through Google translate, the translations may be on the clunky side.

This is the introductory blurb:

...LG Sonic operates internationally, with buoys that observe, analyze and subsequently combat blue algae with ultrasound. A Dutch scientist doubts the effectiveness, but an American customer is very satisfied.

The article commences with some commentary from Yousef Yousef, the CEO of the company, who describes the rapid growth of the company, which once focused on swimming pools and ponds, but today focuses on larger volumes of water such as reservoirs. He describes how the buoys employ an algorithm to determine the ideal frequency of the ultrasound signal required to tackle the algae.

Although the CEO of the company is effusive about the effectiveness of the buoys, the report goes on to note that one Dutch scientist is sceptical. As you might have guessed, the scientist is Miquel Lurling. The next paragraph in the article, pasted below, has some thoughts from Lurling on the ultrasound system:

Is the ultrasound method effective algae mitigation tool? Miquel Lürling, an expert in the field of blue-green algae at Wageningen University, does not believe so. In 2014, together with Yora Tolman, he investigated the hypothesis that cyanobacteria can be controlled with ultrasound by exposing them in a laboratory experiment to a mix of 20, 28 and 44 kHz produced by commercially available transducers.

Based on this study, Lürling and Tolman concluded that there is "no music" in combating cyanobacteria with the commercial transducers used in the experiment. He also pointed out that the systems cannot be called environmentally friendly because it eliminated all Daphnia magna, a water flea that is useful in combating algae.

Yousef does not have a good word for Lürling's research and calls it pseudoscience. "Mr. Lürling has never tested our equipment. His conclusions have nothing to do with what we do with our technology. If you want to conclude that all ultrasonic transducers do not work, then you must also test all ultrasonic transducers. "

Lürling stands firm. He writes in an email to the Technisch Weekblad: "That low energy ultrasonic reduces or prevents blue algae growth has not been scientifically proven. Measurements from a recent experiment in the Zoetermeer lake, for example, do not show that ultrasound can prevent blue algae growth and nuisance. "

Lurling thus seems quite sceptical about the ultrasound system, a view which is surely in no way influenced by the fact that he apparently works for a company that sells a rival technology!. That said, his comments, particularly about the adverse impact of the ultrasound technology on the Daphnia Magna crustacean, seem well grounded.

The second article quoting Lurling relates to a fountain in a lake the Netherlands called the Binnenshelde, and apparently the fountain is the largest lake fountain in the Netherlands. Lurling warns that the spray from the fountain poses a threat, given the presence of blue-green algae in the lake, and cites research from Florida:

...The meter-high fountain sprays water contaminated with blue-green algae. "I find this unwise and then I express myself cautiously," says Lurling.

"There is a reason why swimming is prohibited because the water can cause irritation. The consequences of inhalation are many times more serious. "

Lurling is an aquatic ecologist and associate professor at Wageningen University. According to him, the microdrops can spread through the air over great distances. "We know from toxic algae research in Florida that poisons have been measured about four kilometers inland." The fountain in the Binnenschelde is two hundred meters from the shore.

A sample commissioned by Omroep Brabant shows that there is almost fifty micrograms per liter of chlorophyll-A (blue-green algae) in the water of the Binnenschelde. "That is a considerable amount," Lurling emphasizes. "We are seeing this in more places. You can tell by the cloudiness. ”

...It cannot be deduced from the measurement how toxic the algae are. “But we know that quite a few of those blue-green algae can make very strong toxins. It is evident that they can pose a danger to public health. "

Almost all algae have substances in the cell wall that can cause irritation or pneumonia. In the worst case, the bacteria can enter your bloodstream. "So I would be very careful with that. The fountain might look nice, but I wouldn't want to take on the risk of potentially adverse consequences for people who come close to this spray or even live there."

...Ironically, according to Lurling, the fountain encourages algae growth.“It might reduce the floating layer (algae on the surface), but you generate more biomass (nutrients for algae) net. Mixing shallow water is not a good idea to prevent blue algae. There are many claims about the fight against algae and there is a lot of nonsense. ”

I've summarised and cut up the article to make it an easier read. The full article, which includes a (Dutch) video interview with Lurling, can be found here.

Right at the end of the above report, there is a curious mention of a 'Chinese klei' (Chinese Clay) being tested in the Binnenschelde:

...The algae expert has high expectations of a test with Chinese clay in the Binnenschelde with which the Brabantse Delta water board recently started. Phosphates then stick to the grains so that the algae can no longer reach their nutrients. "This has led to good results in several places in the world."

Naturally, given the Lurling seems to have an association with this company, you would assume that the 'Chinese clay' being tested in the Binnenschelde is phoslcok.

So I searched that term, and another article from the same news site confirms this suspicion. Given its relevance, this time I have pasted the translated article in its entirety as well as a picture from the article showing a pile of phoslcok.

Note that the Binnenschelde is not a small lake, my impression is that the surface area is well over twice the size of that of Lac Bromont in Quebec. Again, the article highlights that there is much more to the 'Phoslock story' than China and Florida.

Green soup from the Binnenschelde must become clear again thanks toChinese clay 8 June 2019

BERGEN OP ZOOM - As soon as the temperature rises, the waterof recreational lake Binnenschelde in Bergen op Zoom looks like a green soup. Blue-greenalgae has been the big problem for years. The concentration of toxic algae is alreadyhigher than in the same period last year. Brabantse Delta Water Board, municipality,province and Brabant Landscape have therefore started a trial in which Chineseclay must finally improve the water quality.

The expectations of the "clay method" are high:"We assume that the water will become clear again and that the number ofplant and animal species will increase," says Guido Waaijen of theBrabantse Delta Water Board."This is a measure that we havesuccessfully applied in other places too, but never on such a largescale."

Delta works

The Binnenschelde covers an area of two square kilometers.Thelake was created in the early 1980s when the Delta Works were constructed.The Oosterschelde,which reached Bergen op Zoom, was then closed off from the sea by the Oesterdam

The research shows that the water is clouded by an excess ofnutrients (phosphate) in the old seabed. This allows all kinds of algae to grow quickly.

Clay pellets from China

An Australian company developed special clay pellets to which the phosphates bind. Theidea is that the clay with the phosphates sinks to the bottom so that the algaecan no longer reach it.

The clay is produced in China.

Waaijen: "The product is not cheap, but other methods such as dredging are many times more expensive." This fall it will become clear whether the test is successful.At the beginning of next year at the earliest, the major cleaning campaign could start with thousands of kilos of clay.

Sensible to swim?

The Binnenschelde is extremely popular with surfers, sailors and swimmers. For thetime being, the province determines every two weeks on the basis of measurementdata from the water board whether recreational users can safely take a dip inthe lake. Orthat warnings must be given about the water that makes you sick.



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