Biological management of the lake through aeration

To cope with rapidly growing negative changes in our environment, particularly in our waters, it is important that we initiate some form of action to counteract such changes, such as biological lake management. Without a doubt, the need to rehabilitate our lakes has never been higher than it is today. And why not? Although the demand for water increases, the resource itself does not change.

Algae growth and other natural phenomena, along with overcrowding and industrialization (the number of boats registered each year exceeds 11 million in the United States alone) add up to deplete our waters.

The good thing is that there are several techniques that we can use to control aquatic nuisances and revive water quality. One such biological lake management technique is called aeration.

Aeration Basics

A lake that has a sudden massive algae bloom. A lake that has a sudden mass die off of algae. Chronic fish kills. Bad smell. Bubbling surface. Mud. The cloudy appearance of the water. These are all signs that the lake needs to be aerated. But have you ever wondered what makes something like this happen?

Although the lakes clean themselves twice a year (each fall and each spring) by mixing the oxygen-rich surface with oxygen-low bottom water, overcrowding and industrial development contribute to the dissolved nutrient content of the water, which makes this natural. The lake cleanup process is simply not enough.

The water is stratified, that is, each level of the water would have different amounts of oxygen. The top of the water might be rich in oxygen, yes, but there would be almost nothing at the bottom.

Such an occurrence would lead to the symptoms already mentioned above: massive algae bloom or die-off, fish kill, unpleasant odor, bubbling surface and cloudy water.

How aeration helps

Aeration helps infuse oxygen into the bottom of the lake, giving it new life. There are several ways to aerate a body of water.

Hypolimnetic aeration is one. This method of subsurface aeration is done by pumping oxygen to the bottom of deeper lakes, giving fish more room to move. It also increases the food supply of all aquatic organisms.

In shallow bodies of water, artificial circulation (also called surface aeration) is normally used. This method exposes the water at the bottom of the lake to the atmosphere so that oxygen from the air can be transferred to the water.

To do this properly, things like air diffusers, paddle wheels, and surface sprayers are used.

The different methods of aeration are practically endless. You can restore a lake using lake bed aeration, use of fountains, circulators, filters, and skimmers, hypolimnetic extraction, dredging, nutrient diversion, and nutrient inactivation.

What could aeration mean

You can use aeration for the “shallower” reasons: to make your home more aesthetic, to impress visitors, to have a lake where you can let your kids swim, a place to entertain friends. It could mean all these things to you.

But what you may not know is that this form of biological lake management also tries to create a sustainable environment for all aquatic organisms and, when done collectively, for the environment as a whole.