ORLEANS – The Orleans Pond Coalition will start a pilot project this summer to use new technology to oxygenate Sarah’s Pond.
The project will use Nano bubble technology to oxygenate the murky bottom of Sarah’s Pond in South Orleans.
The private pond, which covers 5.8 acres, suffers from groundwater nutrient pollution and has issues with algal blooms.
The system draws in air from the surface and delivers oxygen in ultra-fine bubbles to the murky bottom.
“When bubbles are this small they don’t rise. They stay in solution for long periods of time – days and weeks,” said Suzanne Moore.
“The oxygen stays where it’s needed.”
Moore said oxygenation is one of the most common approaches to dealing with low-oxygen conditions in a pond.
“This is absolutely the most efficient oxygen delivery technologies that we have seen to date,” she said.
The technology is used for other gases such as chlorine for pools and nitrogen in agriculture.
“It used also in the oxygen state for things like aquaculture,” Moore said.
The project, which begins in May, will be conducted over two summer seasons to test the technologies effectiveness. Data collected will be compared to several years of records for the pond.
Moore said the capital and operating costs for the technology is cheaper than most other alternatives.
After the initial cost of acquiring the technology, the system would cost $30 a month to run.
A goal of the project is to encourage many private pond owners in the area to try something like this to improve water quality.
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