Crystal Lake probably won’t be a swimming and sunbathing spot again. Still, the Lakeland City Commission approved a roughly $268,000 plan Monday to treat the lake — and if it works, sunlight could reach the bottom for the first time in years.
How it works: An engineering firm will treat Crystal Lake with a formulation of bentonite clay that can bind with excessive phosphorus.
Phosphorus is essential for plant growth, but too much can cause plants and algae to overgrow, blocking light and decreasing the dissolved oxygen available for aquatic life.
About 90% of the phosphorus load in Crystal Lake comes from sediment flux, Lakeland Lakes and Stormwater Manager Laurie Smith said.
Keeping the sediment from recirculating should:
- reduce algae blooms.
- increase water clarity and light transmission.
- stimulate the growth of aquatic plants that provide fish habitat.
The clay product, EutroSORB-G, “trickles through the water column, grabs onto phosphorus and brings it down to the sediment,” Smith said. “Then it forms a very fine layer over the top of the sediment.”
EutroSORB-G is “safe for aquatic life and personnel,” a city news release said.
How much: The commission approved paying Montreal-based environmental engineering firm WSP up to $267,813 for the first of three recommended annual treatments.
That’s less than 10% of the cost of traditional methods of sediment removal such as dredging, Smith said.
Why it matters: Crystal Lake is among nine of the city’s 38 lakes with significant water quality challenges.
The others are Lake Hunter, Lake Bonny, Lake Hollingsworth, Lake Parker, Lake Bonnet, Lake Morton, Lake Mirror and Lake Gibson.
All nine are over the “maximum daily load” of nutrients such as phosphorous that are allowed by state and federal regulations.
Innovative: Such a clay formulation has been used in Lake County and Orange County in the past couple of years. Polk County recently applied it on Lake Deeson.
But this will be the first time Lakeland has used it.
The others are Lake Hunter, Lake Bonny, Lake Hollingsworth, Lake Parker, Lake Bonnet, Lake Morton, Lake Mirror and Lake Gibson.
All nine are over the “maximum daily load” of nutrients such as phosphorous that are allowed by state and federal regulations.
Innovative: Such a clay formulation has been used in Lake County and Orange County in the past couple of years. Polk County recently applied it on Lake Deeson.
But this will be the first time Lakeland has used it.
Cindy Glover is a reporter for LkldNow, a nonprofit newsroom providing independent local news for Lakeland. Read at LkldNow.com.
