Golf Course Ponds
Malibu Water Resources is a distributor for the Koenders Aeration Windmill, and also the Koenders Electric Aerator. Farmers and ranchers install the Koenders Aeration Windmill to add oxygen to their ponds, also known as tanks and dugouts.We see a need for aeration of golf course ponds and our windmills will work fine, but Golf Course Superintendents may want to use an electric aeration system.
So, in the year 2001 we'll see if we can interest some golf courses in the Koenders Electric Pond Aeration System. Koenders uses the same air compressor in the Electric Aerator as they use in their Windmill Aeration system.
Koenders Pond Aeration Windmills | Electric Aerators |
Koenders Electric Aerator Specifications |
When you need to aerate your pond, and a windmill may be just another obstruction on your golf course.
Golf Course Trades: http://www.golfcoursetrades.com/geninfo.htm |
Mag: http://www.golfcoursetrades.com/ |
Golf Course Management: page |
March 2000 | Article page |
The summertime beauty and function of a pond, lake or water features can be seriously threatened by problems that actually develop during the win-ter. Algae, aquatic weeds, fish kills and odors are all caused by a buildup of debris and a lack of oxygen conditions that develop during the fall and winter. The time to start preventing summer disasters is spring.Setting the stage
The water in our lakes is actually a solution of various chemicals and contains suspended organic materials. Various techniques enable water to achieve equilibrium; that is, the state in which natural decomposition is balanced by the amount of chemicals and organic materials entering the water. A program of clarification, proper water circulation and sunlight suppression can correct winter contamination. These measures are far more desirable than severe ones, such as dredging and mechanical weed control. A lake maintenance program during the spring can help prevent the summer blues.Spring lake maintenance is necessary for an attractive lake in summer.
Algae, aquatic weeds, fish kills and odors are all caused by a buildup of debris and a lack of oxygen, which develop dur-ing the fall and winter. Reduce organic matter suspended in the water, adjust the pH of water to favor chemical breakdown and improve oxygen content to maintain a lake's appearance. Lakes are worth the investment in maintenance by knowledgeable professionals.KEY POINTS
Water bodies on a golf course suffer plenty of negative effects during the fall and winter. Proper maintenance in the spring can reduce those negatives and result in a beautiful, healthy lake or pond during the summer. Many things happen during the fall and winter that disrupt the equilibrium of water bodies. Some of the most obvious are increased debris from trees and activity from migrating and native waterfowl. Some occurrences are not so noticeable. Precipitation increases during the winter. Rainfall, which contains a surprising amount of nitrogen picked up from the atmosphere, can change the chemical balance (pH) of water bodies. In addition, runoff from rainfall moves fertilizers and debris from the watershed into the lake. Photos courtesy of Diversified Waterscapes.More important, the process of biodegradation slows during the winter. The organisms in the water that break down leaves, bird waste and dead fish function very slowly, if at all. They simply can't keep up. When tempera-tures rise in the spring and summer, the contaminant load in the water is very high. These organisms require oxygen and a certain pH range to do their job.
Water holds only so much oxygen, depending on the temperature and cir-culation in the water. The more oxygen consumed by microorganisms, the less available for fish and other water life.
Fertilizers applied during the fall and winter also break down much more slowly. Landscape contractors apply nitrate forms of fertilizer (ammonium nitrate and calcium nitrate) to enable plants to obtain nitrogen and remain green during cooler times of the year. Consequently, the potential for fertilizer runoff is greater during the winter.
Nitrates that reach water bodies encourage the establishment of aquatic weeds and blooms of algae later in the season. Add it all up, and you can see that the water in lakes, ponds and water features needs help in late winter and spring.
Lake health depends on spring renovation.
Spring lake renovation
The goal of spring renovation is to bring the body of water back to equilibrium before high summer temperatures and sunlight favor aquatic weeds and algae.To do this, you must reduce organic matter suspended in the water, adjust the pH of water to favor chemi-cal breakdown and improve oxygen content.
Other steps can be taken to improve lake health and discourage weeds, such as
-- increasing lake depth and circulation;
-- using dyes to reduce sunlight penetration;
-- and preventing runoff and debris from reaching the water in the lake.Reducing organic matter involves filtration or treating the water to cause organic particles to settle to the bot-tom. Filters are mechanical devices that require pumps, piping, a filter medium and power. The equipment must be operated and maintained properly, and the filter media must be flushed or replaced regularly to be effective. The time between filter maintenance events is determined by
-- the load of suspended material in the water and
-- the volume of water passing through the filter.Treating a lake with chemicals requires sufficient circulation and an accurate calculation of the volume of water in the lake. The product needs to be both effective and safe for fish and irrigation if the lake is used as a reser-voir. It must be applied correctly and evenly distributed throughout the body of water. For these reasons, selecting a professional applicator familiar with treating lakes is extremely important.
Clarification treatments should be followed with other steps to reduce light penetration and increase oxygen circulation. And, of course, now is the time to get serious about preventing debris from trees and lawns from enter-ing the body of water.
The acidity or alkalinity of a lake influences how rapidly organisms function to digest contaminants. These organisms perform best at a certain range of a measurement called pH, which represents the amount of hydro-gen present in the water. A balanced pH is 7.0. Tree leaves and rain can make the...
Organic matter in a water feature can be detrimental to the health of that lake or pond. A proper pH balance is one of the keys to bringing the water back to equilibrium before the heat of summer takes over.
However, a lake with a limestone shoreline can become too alkaline. The lake pH can change over time and reduce the effectiveness of beneficial organisms. The lake can be treated to restore proper pH.
Lake depth, weeds and oxygen
Depending on the size and depth of the water feature, some provision should be made to maintain circulation throughout the year.Circulation distributes oxygen through the entire vol-ume of the water, improves decomposi-tion of organic matter and helps the lake maintain an even temperature at all levels.
A lake should be deep enough so that sun does not encourage establishment and growth of bottom-rooted weeds. Seed for these aquatic weeds can be deposited in the lake by wind or from bird droppings. Lake dyes can be used to prevent the sun from reaching the lake bottom and to impart a bluer cast to the water.
Deep lakes can develop stratification, or layers of water at different temperatures.
The temperature of each layer determines how much oxygen it will hold, with cooler water holding more oxygen. Circulating water in the lake mixes the layers and makes the oxygen level consistent throughout the entire body of water.Water that doesn't circulate will also tend to hold more suspended material, which leads to discoloration and odors. Circulation causes suspended material to fall to the bottom of the lake where bacteria can break it down. Certain treatments can also cause suspended material to drop out. When the amount of contamination entering a lake is impossible to control, a filtration system might be necessary. Filters are designed to catch a certain size of material. The right filter medium is needed to provide filtration at the most economical cost.
Filters are also an additional maintenance concern.
Fountains and injectors Floating, motorized pumps can be installed in lakes either to pump air into (Top)Algae and other plants tend to dominate the oxygen supply in a lake or pond, keeping it from beneficial microorganisms. (Bottom) Removing that plant life during the spring is a good way to ensure the health of your lakes and ponds. The water (injector) or to pump the water into the air. Although pumps will provide additional oxygen, they also increase the water temperature so that it is more like the temperature of the air above it. The air pumped into a lake will not be distributed evenly through-out the lake without proper circulation.
An injector that uses a pump on the lake shore can also inject oxygen into the lake through tubes stretched across the lake bottom. All these devices take energy to run and require maintenance to operate properly. Hidden activity beneath the surface of a water feature means that mainte-nance during the winter and spring is necessary to prevent serious problems in the summer. Because lakes con-tribute to our enjoyment and add to property values, they are worth the investment in maintenance by knowl-edgeable professionals.
Patrick Simmsgeiger
is president of Diversified Waterscapes Inc., of Laguna Niguel, Calif.
He can be reached at (949) 582- 5414. Site: http://www.dwiwater.com/ |
ARTICLE
http://www.gcsaa.org/gcm/2000/may00/pdfs/05eco.pdf |
Golf Course Management | May 2000 61
Ponds require monitoring and careful attention to avoid severe declines in water quality.
Oxygen is important in ensuring pond health.
Diversity of plant and micro-bial species helps reduce excess populations of unde-sirable organisms.Healthy pond ecosystems start at the bottom of the food chain with green algae and plants.
KEY POINTS
When skies are cloudy on warm summer days, "turnover" often occurs in golf course ponds: Aquatic plants (from large to microscopic) receive insufficient sunlight for normal photo-synthesis, and dissolved oxygen be-comes deficient in the system.At the same time, the upper levels of the pond may become much warmer than the bottom layer. The split in water temperatures at a given depth is called a thermocline, and it acts as a curtain preventing circulation, thereby depriv-ing the lower levels of oxygen.
After the oxygen is depleted, a cold rain may mix the warm and cold layer, breaking down the thermocline and depleting the pond of what little dis-solved oxygen remained in the upper levels.
Without oxygen, microorganisms, invertebrates and, most notice-ably, fish die.
Golf course ponds are complete ecosystems
A complete food chain ensures healthier, more pleasant aquatic features on the golf course.The golf course pond's ecosystem might be enhanced by providing subsurface structures for beneficial organisms to colonize.
GCM - May 2000 - Research
Golf course ponds are complete ecosystemsPrimary producers
A healthy pond ecosystem starts at the bottom of the food chain with green algae and plants.Plants use the nutri-ents supplied by the microbial commu-nity to grow and in turn become food for herbivorous fish and other small animals. Thus, you need aquatic plants to build an ecosystem. The right plants help the ecosystem balance itself. Pond weeds fulfill the primary pro-ducer niche and grow faster and more efficiently than anything else in your pond.
The goal in balancing a pond's ecosystem is to provide it with less destructive primary producers such as periphytic algae and manageable aquatic vegetation (1,2,7,8,9).
Fish
A diverse fish population is vital to any aquatic ecosystem. Smaller fish eat small animals and algae. Larger fish eat smaller fish and plants and algae. The top of the pond ecosystem is usually held by big fish that eat only other fish, although the occasional turtle, bird or alligator may make a strong argument.The idea is to occupy as many levels of the food chain as possible, a concept known as biodiversity. Completing the food chain, the fish die, decompose, or are released through excretion back into nutrients. Then the cycle starts all over again.
State or federal fish and game agencies can suggest which fish to use and how to maintain their numbers, and they can inform you of any stocking laws in your area. Attitude Patience is absolutely essential in successful ecosystem establishment. It will not happen overnight, but in six months, or a year, or five years, you will see the advantages of proactive problem solving and letting nature take its course.
Superintendents and their staffs must be willing to learn about their water.
Appoint an "environmental steward" to take classes and read books.Oxygen depletion warning signs
Like all ecosystems, a pond can be seen as simply a set of relationships among all the organisms of a closed system.By establishing a healthy pond ecosystem, you can alleviate many prob-lems of ponds. Eutrophication, nitrogen and phosphorus Nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus are rarely found in natural ponds at destructive levels. However, sewage disposal, land drainage and fertilization may result in excess nutri-ent enrichment, known as cultural eutrophication. When nitrates and phosphates occur in excess, algal blooms and aquatic weeds are sure to follow.
Water quality indicators such as turbidity, pH, alkalin-ity and dissolved oxygen are also adversely affected in a eutrophic pond. As the pond becomes unattractive and malodorous, it may also become less able to digest excess nutrients, so toxins (such as ammonia and nitrite) and metals (such as aluminum and iron) become potentially lethal to the entire ecosystem (1,3,7,8,9).
Ponds with low levels of oxygen will exhibit the following:
-- fish swimming at or near the surface or gulp-ing for air during late night or early morning
-- rapid changes in water color to brown, black or gray
-- a putrid odor
-- sudden algal die offThese conditions are most likely after an extended period of hot, cloudy weather is interrupted by a summer wind and rainstorm.
Research on pond management and monitoring.
Most regions have volunteer lake management programs offered by universities or private groups that teach the ins and outs of responsible water management.Finally, a leap of faith is required. There are activities that you will abandon and new ones that you will need to adopt. A willingness to change and the patience to allow success to happen make all the difference in the world
Chemicals
It's difficult to make general statements about the use of chemicals in aquatic environments because of the many products on the market. Herb-icides and algaecides are designed to kill or inhibit plants and algae. They are licensed and extensively studied by the EPA to ensure they are not toxic to organisms other than those targeted. When a chemical kills a plant, the dead plant breaks down and adds to the nutrient load of the pond, feeding the next "bloom."An endless cycle of chem-ical application is too often the result.
Chemicals offer a short- term fix.The best advice for the use of chemicals of any kind is to understand them. Know what they do to the plant, how they work, and how that is going to affect the communities that you are try-ing to establish. When you can answer those questions, you can effectively decide the most responsible chemical application. Just be sure you are not recycling your problem
Monitoring
The best way to maintain a pond ecosystem is to constantly monitor it. Measuring turbidity, total ammonia-nitrogen, phosphorus, temperature, pH and dissolved oxygen takes the guess-work out of your evaluations of the effectiveness of your plan. Several companies produce portable meters that give reliable readings quickly and easily. Further, the EPA and the North American Lake Management Society both produce manuals.Aeration: To add air or oxygen into a liquid.
Biodiversity: Describes all aspects of biological diversity, including species richness, ecosystem complexity and genetic variation.
Dissolved oxygen: The concentration of oxygen dissolved in water.
Dissolved oxygen crash: A severe decline in measured dis-solved oxygen over a matter of hours or days.
Flow: Movement of water.
Periphytic algae: A general category of predominantly green algae found growing on or attached to submerged structures in fresh water. Periphytic algae are used in innovative programs for the [top] [bottom] remediation of water because of their extraordinary nutrient uptake capabilities.
Primary producer: Green plants, which convert energy from sunlight to chemical energy, thereby providing food for those above them on the food chain.
Thermocline: The zone of rapid temperature change between warm surface waters and cooler deep waters in a ther-mally stratified lake in summer.
Turbidity: The amount of suspended particles or sedi-ment present in water; relative water clarity.
Pond glossary can teach you what to measure as well as provide responsible ways to solve problems (6).
Aeration
Aerators and oxygen diffusers are important for two reasons:1. They add to the amount of dissolved oxygen in your pond while providing flow. Nearly every animal and plant requires oxygen at some level. Dissolved oxygen crashes are not uncommon in eutrophic water and can be dangerous if not lethal to your ecosystem.
2. By providing a constant oxygen source, you may also avoid the putrid smell and algal blooms that result when oxygen is absent.
Aerators and diffusers are relatively cost effective buffers. They also provide flow that is usually deficient in ponds, and the rule is, the more stagnant the water, the more trouble you can expect (4,5,10).
Structure
Every animal or plant needs a home. Fish require protection from predation, a place to spawn and space for the develop-ment of juveniles. Bacteria populations are limited by the amount of surface area on which they can live.Beneficial algae (periphytic) that can starve out problematic blue-green and filamentous algae require submerged surface area and structure to grow on.
This end of the food chain will dictate most of your failures and successes, and yet, it is the easiest to modify. All you have to do is supply it with surface area.
Rocks and rooted plants provide structure and surface area. Christmas trees, straw bales and other organic materials do the same, but may leach undesirable compounds and will eventually decompose and add to the nutrient load of your pond.
A synthetic product, AquaMats for Lakes (and ponds), provides a high surface area on a grass like structure. The mats offer 280 square yards of surface on just a square yard of product. That's roughly the area of a tennis court in a small area of your pond bottom. The product acts as an in-pond biological filter for improved water quality while providing structure required for successful biodiversity in the pond by offering surface area exceeding that found on a conventional structure.
Building and maintaining a thriving pond ecosystem require responsible problem solving. Remember to consider nutrient levels, biodiversity and long-term environmental implications and, of course, cost effectiveness. Better under-standing of aquatic ecosystems will help you understand the implications of everything you do to your ponds.
Koenders Pond Aeration Windmills | Electric Aerators |
Pond Aeration: related page |
