With weather forecasters predicting a sizzling hot summer, golfers will soon be descending on their course to make the most of summertime play. Ponds, lakes and water features are a familiar and favourite part of this scene, but will yours be able to stand the heat?
Weed and algae can grow at a staggering rate during the summer months, when sunlight penetrates the water’s surface and triggers photosynthesis, with the subsequent overgrowth suffocating your water feature’s oxygen supply.
Unless properly managed, your feature can quickly deteriorate from a sparkling asset into a foul-smelling eyesore riddled with algae, weeds, unwanted insects and dead fish that discourages and even offends the very customers it was designed to please.
To keep such problems at bay, water-quality management expert Otterbine is recommending greenkeepers ensure their water features are adequately aerated. An aeration system is the perfect way of promoting effective water circulation and helping maintain optimum oxygen levels in order to keep water healthy and appealing.
Combining beauty with functionality, Otterbine’s aerating fountains, together with its submerged and floating aerators, prevent water-quality problems like algae, foul odours and even fish deaths by oxygenating the water. They include:
• Surface spray systems provide the most effective aeration and vertical circulation in lakes less than 15 feet deep. Mixing surface and bottom waters, they break up thermal stratification while creating convection patterns that break up algae mats and discourage mosquito breeding.
• Horizontal aspirators are ideal in lakes from three to 12 feet in depth that will benefit from a strong directional flow and where no surface spray pattern is desired. These units create artificial currents in irregular-shaped ponds and lakes, breaking up algae mats in stagnant waters.
• Air diffusion systems use onshore air compressors to pump air to diffuser manifolds at the bottom of the pond or lake. Most effective in waters with depths greater than 15 feet, they can also work in waters as shallow as four feet.
Otterbine www.otterbine.com