Dam Clean
No matter which style of dam or settling pond you have on your property you are dealing with a omplex eco-system that is susceptible to changes in in-flow, climate and usage demands which heavily impact on the health of the water body.
In all eco-systems bacteria plays an important role in the breakdown and decay of organic matter that finds its way into the dam. This organic matter can be composed of decaying vegetation, animal manure, fish excrement and decomposing animal carcasses. The decay of these components breaks down into an excess of nutrient that is the food source for algaes and other weeds.
Heavy seasonal rain also adds to the nutrient levels with the introduction of extra nitrogen. Algae blooms usually follow increases in temperature and/or heavy rainfall. Consider that inflow can be made up of manure, silt, fertilizers and debris runoff after rain.
HOW BACTERIA HELPS
Dam Clean’s high concentrations of specially selected beneficial bacteria, uniquely blended with amino acids and an oxygenation agent to ensure high rates of biomass growth helps to control the balance in these sensitive eco-systems.
This rapid biomass growth is what gives Dam Clean the ability to quickly digest organic solids and reduces the nutrient levels in a dam and in turn this lessens the severity of algae strikes.
Working from the bottom up, Dam Clean consumes the nutrients that algae need to survive leaving irrigation and watering dams clean and clear. Traditional algaecides and herbicides merely poison the algae which then sinks to the bottom increasing the organic loading and severity of future blooms.
A NATURAL SOLUTION
In dams with an existing problem, the bacteria will slowly digest the nutrients from the water and outcompete the algae to the point of starvation. Once the algae has died, it will sink to the bottom to be slowly consumed by the bacteria. When the food source has been depleted the bacteria will die back to natural levels.
This eco-cycle gradually cleans out the dam of any organic matter that may be adding to the silt and sludge in the dam which reduces the water capacity. On average up to 75% of the sludge in the bottom of your dam can be organic matter. Often the reduction in sludge will negate the requirement for mechanical dredging of dams.
The reduction of nutrient levels also helps to control other weeds that thrive in water bodies high in nutrients. e.g Duck Weed, Frogbit, Salvinia, Water Hyacinth, Water Lettuce and other floating pest vegetation. Reduction of nutrient levels will also help to control weeds like Azola (red fern) that take their nutrients from the air, however the treatment cycle can take up to 12 months.
Other natural control methods include weavels, aeration and mechanical harvesting. e.g. floating excavators.
The reduction of decaying organic matter can also help to floc the dam by reducing the amount of suspended solids floating in the water and allowing the heavier silt to drop to the bottom. In most cases there would be no need for expensive and harmful chemical floculants.
