Septic Lagoon Algae Buildup - How To Clear It ???

[doxford jim]

Hi Guys,

My septic system utilizes a holding lagoon, where the water evaporates (in theory).
This year for the first time in eight years, the lagoon is covered with green algae.
I have tried googling to get a solution but can only come up with expensive "fixes" - like buy our product or install air bubbling equipment

I would naturally like to be able to rectify this myself, for as little cash outlay as possible.
Have any other readers had this problem? If you have, how did you manage to eliminate the algae growth ?

My understanding is the algae grows from nitrogen and phosphors enriched waters - oxygen depletion being partly to blame.

Of course I would like a cheap and easy fix - being on a pension doesn't give much in the way of spare cash.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Jim

 

[oosik]

There are two "fixes" to your situation. 1) reduce the food(nitrogen, phosphorus, etc) to the algae - this would be very expensive and not really very viable in your situation 2) oxygenation with either bubblers or surface aerators. Unfortunately, #2 can be expensive also and has the disadvantage of creating some really noxious odors.

Actually, the algae are doing a job for you by using the nitrogen, phosphorus as food.

If the algae is not creating a problem - heavy odor - I would not worry about it. If your lagoon is truly, an evaporation lagoon then the algae is not creating a problem for the lagoon.

 

[charlz]

Probably not an option considering what it is used for but when my pond gets heavy with green algae I pump it way down and let the exposed 'dirt' areas completely dry out. This seems to kill it back and stays pretty clear for the rest of the season.

Another 'natural' option is barley straw. I don't know how big your lagoon is but they make small bags of the straw and i believe there are large bags for regular bales. When the straw rots underwater it releases a natural algaecide. Has to be barley straw.

If chemicals are OK then there are various copper based chemicals. The previous owner left some here that I used one year, it worked but I don't remember the name, might have been Cutrine ... it was a dry chemical in a 50# bag. Whatever it was when I ran out I looked to buy more but it was quite expensive.

 

[blueriver]

I have a lagoon for holding waste from my farrowing house ... Holds about 20k of liquid ... I pump it out and put it on my fields for fertilize .. I know your deal is different ...BUT when I get the algae build up on the surface I simply back my brush hog into it ... Fire up the PTO lower the brush hog into the lagoon and let it stir things up .. Adds oxygen stirs thing up pretty good.

I have to do this is the summer cause I don't pump it out only in the spring and fall .. It helps and I do it every couple weeks ...

 

[ozley]

I have a lagoon for holding waste from my farrowing house ... Holds about 20k of liquid ... I pump it out and put it on my fields for fertilize .. I know your deal is different ...BUT when I get the algae build up on the surface I simply back my brush hog into it ... Fire up the PTO lower the brush hog into the lagoon and let it stir things up .. Adds oxygen stirs thing up pretty good. I have to do this is the summer cause I don't pump it out only in the spring and fall .. It helps and I do it every couple weeks ...

I really had laugh at the picture I got in my head.
Sorry

 

[Gary Fowler]

Copper Sulfate will kill that algae easily. A one gallon bucket (about $50) will treat more than a half acre pond but it will also kill any animals like fish and frogs that might be living in it also if you get it too strong (DAMHIK)

 

[dmccarty]

I really had laugh at the picture I got in my head.
Sorry

:laughing::laughing::laughing: Yeppers, I laughed at the image too.

Note to self. Do not buy a used bush hog from BlueRiver. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

Later,
Dan

 

[sld]

Sounds like duck weed and chemicals will get rid of it. Doesn't hurt anything though. For free you can remove it yourself. I have used a seine before. Get one long enough that you can walk on dry ground on either side. The duck weed did not come back after skimming it off.

 

[doxford jim]

Just thought I would update the post as I am making some progress.
I did a lot of searching and found both copper sulfate (thanks Gary) and clorine work to clear the algae. Also aeration is said to be a big help.
I have bought some copper sulfate (8lbs so far) - not so easy to find in Canada. I am using what I found in Home Depot called "Root Away" and made by Zep.
Today I setup my 2" gas powered water pump to circulate the water. I made a nozzle out of sched.40 2" PVC and put a 2" - 1" reducer on the end. This is connected to the discharge hose of the pump and shoots a good stream where I want it. The suction is one end of the lagoon and the discharge goes to the other end - this hopefully will help circulate the aerated water.
While doing this I also scattered the copper sulfate around the lagoon (hand broadcast) as much as possible. Hopefully this will dissolve and do it's job.
I don't yet have any chlorine but thought that swimming pool chlorine tabs would probably work well - any thoughts on that ?

I don't have any photo's yet but will take some tomorrow. My thoughts are that if I circulate the water for several days for six or eight hours, I should see some improvement. Time will tell of course. My cost so far is around $150 for PVC pipe and fitting and copper sulfate. Probably a lot cheaper than using a chemical company special formulation - but it was what was available locally.

The water did smell once I started circulating - prior to that there was no noticeable smell.
Will post the photo's tomorrow hopefully in case any one is interested.

Thanks

 

[lostcreekranch]

Do you have an estimate of total volume ( gallons)? Add about 1 gallon of cheapest chlorine bleach you can buy per 10,000 gallons. Aeration will be very helpful.

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