Again we see the DEP invest over a third of a million dollars in an unknown plan to stop algae, when they know that sooner or later they must attack the source–nutrients from fertilizer and septic tanks.
More delays in stopping the problem, more money spent on anything but the cure.
Florida taxpayers deserve better.
Read the original article here in ABC25 spbf News.
Comments by OSFR historian Jim Tatum.
jim.tatum@oursantaferiver.org
– A river is like a life: once taken,
it cannot be brought back © Jim Tatum
Florida Water Quality Experts Using Bubbles to Fight Blue-Green Algae
PAHOKEE, Fla. —Water experts in South Florida are trying a new way to treat blue-green algae blooms.
The technology is called nanobubbles.
Stay updated: South Florida blue-green algae health alerts
“At one level can we stop a bloom from happening. Two, the technology allows us to actually inject these bubbles with ozone that we can actually oxidize them if it gets really bad in here,” said Dr. Barry Rosen, a professor at The Water School at Florida Gulf Coast University.
According to company officials, the bubbles, which are very small, are blasted into the algae-filled water. They said the bubbles, which are chemical-free, provide a natural oxidant that can disinfect surfaces and can destroy algae cells and toxins.
Crews were at the Pahokee Marina Thursday morning installing equipment and taking water samples as part of the study.
Exclusive: Tests confirm dog died from toxic blue-green algae in the C-51 canal
The program is being funded by a $355,850 grant from Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP).
“To have a tool that is continually running non-stop and something that will be constantly battling in fighting against harmful algae blooms and the conditions that lead to them is really a new method and fundamentally new approach to how we’re going to start combating harmful algae in our natural water bodies,” said Eli Kersh, a director of North American Lake Management Society and the certified lake manager of Surface Water at Moleaer.
Officials said this is a six-month pilot program that could be extended another six months.
Study: CDC begins first study to see if air-borne blue-green algae toxins harm health
