Byline: Jeff Alexander / Grand Rapids Press News Service
SPRING LAKE -- A chemical treatment used to combat algae in Spring Lake has dramatically improved water quality in the lake, according to two new studies.
The Spring Lake Lake Board paid $1.3 million to pump more than 1 million gallons of aluminum sulfate, or alum, into much of the 1,298-acre lake in late 2005. The treatment was aimed at reducing the amount of phosphorus in the lake, which fueled massive algae blooms that made the water's surface look like it was covered with bright green paint.
In the two summers since the alum treatment, there have been no major algae blooms on the lake, water clarity has improved and phosphorus concentrations have dropped by more than 50 percent, according to a study by Progressive AE, a Grand Rapids engineering firm.
"There's been a huge difference -- we haven't seen the algae that looks like green paint on the water's surface, and I hope we never see it again. That was disgusting," said John Nash, Spring Lake Township supervisor and chairman of the lake board.
"There were times in the past when I could only see down about 15 inches in the water," Nash said. "Now, I can see down 5 feet sometimes."
Cheryl Mendoza, a lakefront property owner, said she has noticed a big improvement in water clarity since the alum treatment.
Summer algae blooms were an almost annual event on the lake before the alum treatment. Some years there were two or three large algae blooms, Nash said.
Gale Document Number:CJ175532379