Pond Algae a Problem

Just wondering whether anyone could give some advice about the best method of eliminating algae from a pond.

A homeowner here has asked our BOD to look into a problem with algae on a pond behind his home. That pond is one of 3 in our community. The other 2 ponds feed into it. The HOA pays for regular applications of a chemical for our ponds, but the chemicals do not seem to help the pond located behind the homeowner's home.

We have investigated the possibility of installing a pump and fountain or installing an underwater aeration system. Both systems are expensive and both would require our running electricity to the vicinity of the pond. We've heard conflicting remarks about which system would be most likely to fix the problem.
I'd appreciate hearing of any of your experiences with fountains and/or aeration systems.
Thanks, Marianne

Marianne,

I have lived on such a pond for 15 years, and before that had to deal with the problem in a farm pond on my country estate.

I am presuming you are speaking of a detention or retention pond, rather than a garden/decorative pond.

Fact of life: You can't eliminate algae from the pond. You gotta live with it. That is unless you want to kill off everything in the pond ever few weeks, and make your ponds chemical cesspools. (Or spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to maintain them like swimming pools.)

Treating our system of linked detention ponds several times each year with both copper sulfate (turns the water blue) and a mixture of other chemicals works for us. It is also less damaging to the environment,

The problem is that algae sits and grows on the bottom of the pond, and when disturbed or when it grows so much that it can't stay attached to the bottom, it will float to the surface in numerous big clumps.

And how the pond maintenance company treats the pond makes a big difference. The first contractor we used simply sprayed the treatment into the pond surface while walking around the bank. Our current contractor actually launches a small skiff and sprays the chemicals over the entire pond surface.

Even though ponds are connected, the treatment does not seem to flow from one to the other. All ponds in the drainage/retention system have to be treated individually.

This has been a relatively good year--just two treatments so far. Last year there were five. August seems to be the worst month. But this year, with all the rain, the ponds have been relatively algae free.

And, yes, we have two fountains. They really don't do the job. They help, but they are not the solution. And an areator only seems to stimulate the algae on the bottom to break free and float to the surface.

Lots of pond maintenance companies in Hoosierland.

For more information, contact the Purdue County Extension office in your county. They have tons of printed materials on retention/detention pond construction and maintenance.

Check out http://www.asapaquatics.com/index.php

Let me share with you the attached. It may be of some help.

And a third attachment about bubblers.

To eliminate algae in any body of water:

Copper Sulfate, Cupric Acid.

Nitric Acid, Sulfuric Acid, Perchloric Acid.

Sodium Hypochlorite, Hydrochloric Acid, Carbon disulfide.

Benzene will normally work too, as will a ton of other organic compounds (triethanolamine, acrolein, dichloromethane, trichloromethane, just to name a couple) if you don't mind the cancer risk.

Ozone treatment, electrostatic hydrolysis, and chemical filtration also work if money is no object.

One thing mankind is good at is inventing ways to kill other living things. There's probably 100,000 chemicals you can add to the water to kill the algae, thanks to the miracle of modern science.

Marianne,
The answer is simple. You said that the HOA pays for regular applications of chemicals. The company that is treating the pond is failing to do their job. That's why they are hired--to maintain the ponds. Get them out there and show them the mess and require it to be resolved.

Comemon George,

The HOA is paying for the ponds to be maintained. My HOA in Florida has 14 ponds. It is hot down there, there is chemical runoff from the 565 homes and miles of streets and the sun never ceases to grow algae. Do we have algae? No way, the company that treats these ponds has them clear enough to see the bottoms. And the $43,000 annual fees would have their heads in a bag if we had bad pond water. If it were not the companys job to maintain them with chemicals, then I would cut them slack in this case but they are paying for pond maintenance.

I speak from Board experience and as a Board member who had the responsibility to monitor all of our vendors, I concluded that. What type of information would you like to see that says there is failure from the maintenance company in the pond care?

John,

I was very involved with the pond contract in Fl. These ponds (retention holes) are all interconnected and are monitored by S. Fl Water Management District. Because when it rains heavy, they flow thru big culverts and end up being treated so there is County cost involved.

They MUST have a 10 foot Littoral (native grasses and plants) around them to replace all of the lost habitat for the water birds. Because of the eco system, these ponds must not kill off all of the creatures that we have had to entice with the Littorals. Therefore ponds can and must be healthy. It took us 3 vendors in 4 years to find the right one, so I blamed the O.Ps vendor and as you backed this up, all vendors are responsible to carry out the services that they are paid to perform. Otherwise--THEY ARE HISTORY.

Never did I expect to generate such terrific replies to my question when I submitted it. Thanks to all for your ideas and comments.

George, I really appreciate the pdf files you linked and your experiences with ponds here in Indiana. I will share this information with my fellow board members. (In fact, I will send them a link to this subject in this forum.)

Michelle, your comments about the water colorant made good sense to me. I think that is the copper sulfate that George, Brian, and maybe some others suggested.

Donna, (and John) FYI -- Our contract with the pond maintenance company is up soon. We've been watching this situation and in a problem-solving mode throughout the summer (remember this is our first year on the BOD), have spoken with our pond mtnce co, and we have recently consulted with two other companies in order to gather more information and develop options. We are in the fact-gathering stage at this time. The posts here have yielded some very helpful information.
Marianne

George,
I agree that there are differences in the physical DNA of the Algae in Indiana and Florida climates breed different types of algae, bacterias and tides. (ever heard of Red Tide?)
What you quoted is from some pond treatment Co. and is a basic disclaimer with basic pond scum info. So I would not go to the bank with that one. It is basically covering their butts.

Marianne, I am glad to see that your BOD is considering looking into other companies because there are ways to deal with this. It might take some extra time or treatments but for the health of the pond, it has to be addressed. Mosquitos as I remember them, grow pretty big up in your neck of the woods. I'm from Wisconsin so I know.

"You don't fault the lawn mowing contractor when the grass grows back. Why then should the pond treatment company be faulted when algae returns. It is nonsensical.

There was nothing in the original post that suggested the contractor was not doing a proper job."

The original post states that the chemicals (hence, vendor/contractor) are not doing the job.

Marianne,

Fountains are pretty, and pretty expensive. We have a nice one, but it doesn't do anything about algae except keep it out of a 20 foot circle in the center of the pond.