Floating Wetlands Used To Clean Polluted Duck Pond

12 days into the pond the 100 plus water fowl have adopted the floating wetland platform as 'home'.  The platform is a 'trial' to see just how the resident ducks and geese would affect the system.  Presently the pond has a sandy island with trees but no herbaceous or other vegetation.  Concern was expressed the large contingency of ducks would devour the biomass quickly, rendering the plant-nutrient uptake platform useless.  Twelve days into the process the plants are a little trampled but growing vigorously in the duck matter nutrient enriched waters.  Plans are to begin harvesting the biomass on a periodic basis to remove sequestered nitrogen and phosphorous from the system.

Managed Aquatic Plant Systems - Floating Wetlands - Riverside Duck Pond Project

Listed below are several photographs of a pond where the existence of Nutrients In-Nutrients Out is of balance.  Due to the large waterfowl population and the local resident's feeding the ducks, the waterbody  constantly accumulates nutrients.  However the water body possesses no capability or mechanism for removing those nutrients.  Algae blooms are perennial and the water quality poor.  Floating Wetlands are in the process of being added to the pond to provide the Nutrient Out Component.  We will be posting data and photographs of the results.

TMDL Credits, TMDL Reductions are possible with Floating Wetlands - Managed Aquatic Plant Systems - Florida and the Eastern US

The pickerel weed, canna and bullrush are  growing well - filling out the 2" thick polypropylene platform, and providing a two-tiered platform for removing Nitrogen and Phosphorous.  Firstly, the dense root system allows for microbe activity and digestion to occur just below the surface.  Secondly,  the plants ingest Nitrogen and Phosphorous as part of their required nutrients, sequestering both in the biomass.

These floating platforms of wetland plants function on a Nutrient In - Nutrient Out basis as described below - perfect for a TMDL nutrient removal program.

Nutrients In - Nutrients Out! Simple way to keep water clean with Floating Wetlands

When nutrients and pollutants keep entering a system - if they are not removed - they accumulate.  The typical pond cleaning cycle involves waiting until the pond is full of nutrients and the algae are blooming rampantly.  Copper sulfate is added to kill the algae and the algae die and drop to the bottom of the pond.  Soon however, the dead algae release consumed nutrients back into the water and the cycle begins again.  The missing component to the equation is the NUTRIENTS OUT link.  Floating wetlands can help resolve this issue through a program of managed periodic biomass removal.  Biomass contains sequestered nutrients.  The harvesting or pruning of the aquatic plants on the floating platform permanently removes nutrients from the pond, helping with the nutrient balance in the water.  Harvested biomass can be composted for reuse in landscapes, reducing the need for fertilizers.  Nutrients in and nutrients out.  Call Kevin - 904-294-2656.

Stormwater BMPs - Floating Wetlands - Gainesville, Florida - Managed Aquatic Plant Systems

Pictured here are three pictures of week 3 deployments.  Lake Alice looked lush and full with several waterfowl swimming around the island.  The downtown stormwater pond - Tumblin Creek Park - appeared to be growing also - and was host to several turtles sunning themselves.  Finally, the Brownfield site - where we expect to receive alot of valuable data on pollutant removal efficiencies - the floating wetland deployed at the Brownfield Site had waterfowl and ducks clustered among the plants.

Questions as to the additional nutrient input from wildlife use remain to be analyzed, however the floating wetland platforms appear to be preforming as expected!  Check back for further updates, or sign up to follow the blog.  Kevin.

Floating Wetlands - Florida - Open Architecture Mat for Floating Wetland Allows Sunlight and O2/CO2 Exchange

The open architecture of the floating wetland pictured above allows for a level of sunlight to penetrate the platform and reach the water column below.  Sunlight blockage has always been an overriding concern about floating wetland mats and the system here solves that significant issue.

The photo above shows how the native aquatic plants are placed into the grid.  Because the grid is two inches thick and open in structure both vertically and horizontally, the root system of the aquatic plants can grow laterally as well as vertically.

Supporting LEED and the Sustainability issue that is on everyone's radar - this platform brings significant LEED and Green Building points with its 95% post-consumer recycled content (polypropylene).

Call Kevin for more info on this floating wetland platform system.  904-294-2656.

Three New ACF Floating Wetlands Launched in Gainesville, Florida

Successful launching of three floating wetland platforms occurred yesterday - March 11th, 2010 in Gainesville, Florida.

The platforms are ACF Floating Wetland units made from post-consumer recycled polypropylene and utilize native aquatic plants obtained from a permitted wetland nursery.

The University of Florida has conducted years of research concerning the efficiency of emergent aquatic plant species at removing nutrients and other pollutants from stormwater.

UF staff is continuing the research with the three floating wetland systems.

The testing not only involves nutrient removal capabilities, but also heavy metals, other pollutants and fecal coliform removal efficiencies too!

The ACF Floating Wetland platforms are rigid and permanent - unlike the soft Ethylene Vinyl Acetate foam mats made in China and used in many other floating wetland systems.   ACF Floating wetlands also offer the advantage of allowing light to penetrate through the open architecture as well as O2 exchange where solid mats shade out light and can cause decline in protected benthic grasses.

The ACF Floating wetland system has a 2" thick structural form that allows root mass to grow horizontally as well as vertically, protecting the plant roots from Carp and allowing the plants to be used for many years without the necessity of being replaced.

Other floating wetland systems recommend changing plants yearly - running operating costs up over time.  However, with the ACF floating wetland system, plants can create a moderately mature root mass system that immediately support new sprout growth upon upper bio-mass harvest.  Replacing plants annually creates an issue of small, immature and juvenile root systems and less root mass contact with the water.

We will keep you posted on the ACF Floating Wetland systems!  To Deploy one of these systems in your waterway, call Kevin @ 904-294-2656.