Rice Lake Algae Control Problem                                                                                        Summer 2009

Objective: Find a product to reduce algae growth and prevent algae blooms and install on Rice Lake.

Possible Solution: Use device that kills algae by creating sonic waves.  I found two main products that work essentially the same; one is called LG Sonic and second is by SonicSolutions

They do not seem to be an economical solution for entire lake, but looks interesting for small bay areas. Full coverage would be difficult on main part of lake and would cost in the hundreds of thousands.

Some points:

Suppose to be fish friendly

Does not use chemicals

Simple to install and operate

Requires power but only a few watts

Does not suppose to harm native plant growth

Does not require DNR permit

Units have 2 year warranty and estimated life expectancy of 8-10 years

There are solar powered possibilities, but looks to drastically increase the cost

Technology seems to have been around for approximately 6 years

Sonic Solutions product seems to be best suited for our needs and is available on a rental basis as well as purchase. This “rent to own” program gives us the opportunity to see what kind of actual results we can get on Rice Lake before spending a lot of money on purchasing these units.

3 recommended locations marked on the map below:

1)      Boat launch

2)      Tristan Bay

3)      Arboretum

Next Steps

1)      Discuss with potential locations

2)      Get confirmation from Weeder's Digest the locations will work

3)      Get property owner permissions to install with Rental plan

4)      Set up installation dates

5)      Have units installed

Recommended cost breakdown (from Wade Quale)

Cost/mo

# months

Total

Tristan

City

RLAA

1 Boat launch

300

4

1200

0

600

600

2 Tristan Bay

300

4

1200

500

600

100

3 Arboretum

300

4

1200

0

1200

0

$3,600

$ 700.00

May, Jun, Jul, Aug

Modified cost breakdown (from George Schneider when submitted to LQC for funding approval

Cost/mo

# months

Total

City

RLAA

1 Boat launch

300

3

900

600

300

2 Tristan Bay

300

3

900

600

300

3 Arboretum

300

3

900

600

300

$2,700

1,800

$ 900

May, Jun, Jul, Aug

| | | | | | |

NOTE: If the Arboretum unit is housed on private property instead of public, funding may need to be shared with City instead of all from City.

Project Log

Date

Action Taken

Action Owner

Next Steps

Comments

2/20/09

Started this project

Wade

Get info from WD

WD = Weeder's Digest

2/27/09

LIP creation

Wade

Submit to George for LQC

LQC to vote on this at March 2009 monthly meeting

3/18/09

LQC passed this request

George S.

City Council to vote

Approved for $3,600 total asking for City funding of $2,400

4/7/09

City Council passed this along with other LQC requests

George S.

Begin soliciting the 3 candidates

4/17/09

Met with LW to survey sites

Wade/George S.

Contact homeowners and get OK for installations

For Arboretum area, contact private homeowners across the creek

4/19/09

Wade contacted Wichmann's on east side of Arboretum

Wade

Wait for Gerry W. to get back from trip next week

Final decision should be available by next week from Wichmann's

4/21/09

George met with Joe Liedl on boat ramp bay; wants to host

George

Plan on installing next week if other owners OK

Waiting for Wichmann and Tristan Bay (George) to finalize by next week

4/24/09

Received Rental Agreement from WD

Wade/George

Review and recommend update to reflect our actual agreement

Remove shipping/install references, since Bruce said he would do it for no charge. Change 90 day rental to 120.

4/26/09

Wade met with Wichmann's and they want to move forward

Wade

Get WD rental agreement modified to reflect our project

Current proposal is vague and directed to those with shipping needs, costs. Also want to modify to 120 days.

4/27/09

George discussed with TBHA homeowner Joe Cassidy to see if we can run cable behind his backyard underground thru culvert to bay.

George

Waiting for Joe's response - this would allow us to dig shallow trench for cable without inflicting heavy cost

Connection would still be done to TBHA power post where Aerator is located.

4/28/09

Rick Lestina said the City is not interested in supporting a sonic unit at this time.

George

Maybe next year with advance notice

They don't have funds for it this year.

4/28/09

Joe Cassidy (TBHA) said OK to run shallow trench behind his yard for Sonic cable.

George

Make sure this will work OK with Bruce at WD.

4/29/09

Wade will be out of town the next week (5/3 thru 5/10)

Wade

5/1/09

WD provided revised rental agreement to allow up to 4 months, but only 3 would be eligible towards purchase

Wade/George

Get Board approval for this Rental Agreement before committing.

Also question on insurance coverage for vandalism or theft on units while we are renting them.

5/2/09

220 volt black heavy duty power cable from TBHA aerator in Storage Shed at Marina

George

Splice the necessary length to make connection with 50' Sonic unit.

Bill Kidder said this should work. Maybe ask Robert Nelson for some help (free) on this?

5/5/09

Discussed rental insurance liability with Joe Liedl from State Farm

George

Confirm vendor is not offering it and they should state it in the agreement

Will need to get coverage for units - probably under a plan for RLAA. Need to continue checking that out

5/7/09

WD modified Rental Contract (version 3) to show no insurance coverage by WD or manufacturer

George

Get Lake Management Task Team to review the contract and this plan before getting Board to approve

Target May 11 (Monday) for LM responses before submitting to Board

5/10/09 thru 5/12/09

Conducted vote among LM Team members to approve Sonic Solutions project

George

7 members voted: 6 Yes, 1 Unsure, 1 no reply

Will submit to Board of Directors for final approval of the project.

5/12/09

Conducted vote among Board of Directors to approve this project.

George

Board of Directors vote to secure Insurance first

Once Insurance secured, we can go ahead and order the units for Rental

5/18/09

Board of Directors voted on Insurance policy of Property coverage up to $15,000

Board

George to give WD OK to order units.

E-mail with signed Rental Contract (by RLAA President Jim Kridel) sent to Bruce Wahlstrom at WD.

5/19/09

Confirmation for order of 3 units

George/Wade

Bruce will order the 3 units to arrive by next Thursday (5/28)

Can install them on 5/28, 5/29 or 5/30 (am only). George and Wade to check with homeowners hosting the units to see what works best for them to be present during installations.

5/19/09

See if Tristan Bay resident (Joe Cassidy) has date preference

George

Anytime works - if he's not around go ahead and do without.

He's ok with any of the dates.

5/19/09

See if Joe Liedl (Boat Ramp Bay) wants to be present for the installations

George

Sent Joe an e-mail - wait for his reply

5/21/09

WD reports back order means delivery delayed until 6/1

Bruce

Bruce will try to get it moved closer to 5/28

Bruce will know for sure on 5/22 and let us know

5/22/09

Purchased connect plugs for TBHA unit.

George/Bill K.

Get volunteers from TB to help dig trench

Plan on digging trench 5/30-31

5/28/09

WD expects delivery on 5/30; will know for sure later today

Bruce

Checking his schedule for availability to install

Tentatively plan on installing the units on Saturday (5/30)

5/29/09

WD confirmed delivery will be late today; install on Sat.

Bruce

Set appointments starting at 9:00 am on Saturday

Install Boat Ramp Bay first, Arboretum 2nd, Tristan Bay 3rd.

5/30/09

Installed 3 units as planned

Bruce/Wade/George

Monitor units and let each run continuously

Should begin to see effects within a week after installation

6/2/09

WD reports check was written for $27 and not $2,700

George/Rick

Rick to write out new check for correct amount and send directly to WD

New check for $2,700 to be issued

6/3/09

Rick wrote check for $2,700 and will mail tomorrow

Rick

Check to be sent 6/4

Will old check for $27 be voided?

6/22/09

Joe Liedl reports unit at boat ramp doesn't seem to do much

Bruce

Forwarded photos and e-mail to Bruce at LWD

Bruce stated he could not read the photos in the e-mail, but he visited each of the 3 sites the next day and said he feels they are doing what they can, considering the environment.

6/23/09

Lake Management team visited all 3 sites to check unit status

George/LM Team

Checked each unit to make sure no blockage; all looked fine

Each was putting out power and no indications of problems. Unit by the Arboretum seemed to show best results, relative to the other 3 sites.

6/28/09

Shane Mason (Boat Ramp Bay) questioned if foul smell in the bay from algae die-off

Bruce

Forwarded the question to Bruce and described it as bad "Worcestershire Sauce".

Bruce said he did not notice it on his latest visit to the area. Question it with City and Rick Lestina and Mark Lahtinen couldn't smell anything on Monday (6/29) when they visited. (It was windy that day)

7/22/09

Consensus among those hosting units is that they are not working. Do not recommend purchasing them.

RLAA Board

Board to conduct vote at next Board Meeting on 7/28/09

Algae levels and water clarity not deemed any better this year than in the past in these same areas where units are being hosted.

7/28/09

Board unanimously voted to return the units within the rental timeframe (8/30/09).

George

Remove units prior to 8/30/09 and return to Lake Weeders Digest

Clean units and return.

7/28/09

Choose removal date and get volunteers

George

Scott Roeglin and Bill Kidder will help. Wade is out of town 8/21-31.

Choose a removal date that works for Scott, Bill and George and solicit others to help remove all 3 units.

8/3/09

Informed Bruce at LWD we will be returning the units

George

Plan removal

Bruce said just need to clean them off and return to him. We can return them a few days late; no penalty will be set.

8/10/09

Tristan Bay unit disconnected from power meter post

George/Rob Nelson

Ready for removal

Rob Nelson (TBHA resident electrician) disconnected from power source. Ready to remove.

8/10/09

Start soliciting help to remove 3 Sonic Solutions units

George

Sent invite to Scott, Bill and Wade with possible dates to pull units out.

Wade is out of town on vacation 8/21-31.

8/18/09

Sent e-mail to Gerry Wichmann and Joe Liedel to notify them will be removing units within the next week.

George

Notify them of the date we select to remove the units

All 3 units to be removed by xx date and returned to LWD

8/23/09

Removed 3 Sonic Solution units

George/Scott/Bill / Marshal

Clean them up and return to LWD this week

All 3 units removed, along with 5 cement block anchors

8/27/09

Returned 3 Sonic Solution units to LWD

George

Returned units to Bruce at LWD in New Hope. He was discouraged that we couldn't keep them, but understood and didn't push selling them to us.

Sonic Solutions S500

6/22/09 - Joe Liedl (owner with sonic unit in boat ramp bay) sent the following e-mail with photos:

From: Joe Liedl
Sent: Monday, June 22, 2009 6:12 AM
To:
Subject: Machine in Bay

Hey George, I’m not sure how well the machine in the bay is working…This was photo was taken Saturday morning (6/20/09) …although it kind of cleared up on Sunday. The bay smells like the city discharged raw sewage into it.    Joe

DSC00800

DSC00801

6/21/09 - Responded to Joe by e-mail:

Joe,

Thanks for the photos. I know the lake in general kind of flushed out more over the weekend. The same happened behind my house on the creek.

I haven't gotten an opportunity to spot-check the units, but if you could just take a look at the front of the unit to make sure it's not clogged or anything, that would be great. Typically, it should not be clogged since the sonar is pushing out and not sucking in.

Another thing to check is to make sure the power unit (attached to the dock) is showing a flashing green indicator light for the Sonic waves and a steady green light for the power supply.

I plan on checking the other 2 units this week and will let you know what changes we see on them.

George

=================================================================================================

E-mail exchange around June 23:

Jim,

Thanks for sharing this info. We had our LM team meeting out on my boat tonight and visited each of the 3 sonic unit sites. In each case, the units were not clogged and were running as expected. The one that Shane has near his home was in an area which smelled the worst of the 3 locations. I will run some of Shane's comments by Bruce Wahlstrom from LWD and see what he thinks about the dieback oder (if it's true).

I'll let you and Shane know what he says.

Thanks,

George

From: James Kridel
Sent: Tuesday, June 23, 2009 3:27 PM
To: George (Home)
Subject: Fwd: Algae Buster

FYI

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Shane Mason"

Date: June 23, 2009 2:42:06 PM CDT

To: "James Kridel"

Subject: RE: Algae Buster

I’d be happy to share my observations.  I went out last night and agree with you that out in the center of the lake the water quality is not bad.  It is just in the bay of the boat ramp that it is brown and stinks.  I’ve looked for were in the Bay the Algae Buster is installed but don’t see it.  It is all under the water?  I’ve notice green algae after the rains for about a day then the water had turned brown with the smell.

Thanks for the information!

Shane R. Mason

From: James Kridel
Sent: Tuesday, June 23, 2009 1:06 PM
To: Shane Mason
Cc: George (Home)
Subject: Re: Algae Buster

Hi,

The Algae Busters were installed a few weeks back in the following locations - Bay by the boat ramp, Tristin Bay and near the Arboretum.  They all seem to be functioning but we have not reached any conclusion as to how effective they are.  With the recent rains they may have not been able to keep up.

We should look into your suggestion that if they are killing algae does that promote a foul smell.  Next time I'm out ill try to compare all three.  You can help by doing the same and telling us you observation.

Jim

On Jun 22, 2009, at 1:36 PM, Shane Mason wrote:

It may mainly be the bay.  It is horrible.  So the Algae Buster is in?  I haven’t seen it.  When was it installed?  Perhaps it is killing the algae and then causing it to rot or something.

  Shane R. Mason

From: James Kridel
Sent: Monday, June 22, 2009 12:13 PM
To: Shane Mason
Cc:
Subject: Re: Algae Buster

Hi Shane

I'm a bit surprised that the lake smells. I was out on it and didn't notice much difference from prior years. George recently sampled clarity depths and found about 6 foot visability in the center and better than that in west bay. The algea busters don't seem to have much effect but it is too early to tell. The best news is that the recent rains have helped and that the drougt is over.

Jim

Sent from my iPhone

On Jun 22, 2009, at 11:14 AM, "Shane Mason" wrote:

What is the status on the Algae Buster?  The lake stinks really bad.  It smells like a sewer.  I’ve been hearing from neighbors complaining about why they pay dues when nothing changes or seems to get done.   Any update I can pass on.

Thanks!

  Shane R. Mason

=================================================================================================

Bruce,

Thanks for the response and taking a look at the areas.

I've attached the same photos that I downloaded for the e-mail of the boat ramp bay that were taken last weekend. I agree that it doesn't look that bad yesterday or today as it did in the photos.

Think we should ask the City about the smell? There are 2 large storm drains that empty into that little bay.

George

From: bruce wahlstrom
Sent: Wednesday, June 24, 2009 10:01 AM
To:
Subject: Re: Progress Report

George,

Your pictures seemed to be in a format that I could not seem to open. So, I just stopped by and took a look at all 3 sites this morning and all appeared to be doing very well (compared to what I would have assumed based on discussions of previous years). Based on past memory, what would you have expected to see mid to late June?

As for the smell, yes, that was quite potent and not a smell that I am accustom to smelling around lakes or ponds. Strange. The only place I noticed it was near the boat launch - and maybe a faint smell at the other end of that bay. It would not be from a reaction to the ultrasonic devices.

Yes  I do expect that the units and the algae should run its course in the first 3 weeks. After that, I expect that any algae blooms that develop will be smaller in size and shorter in duration. Making a statement of "11 weeks" would certainly be a safe way to present it since it is a 3 month rental duration but I think we should have a good sense after a month if we are winning or losing.

Bruce

On Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 11:39 PM, George Schneider wrote:

Bruce,

Our Lake Management team took a ride out on the lake tonight for our meeting and visited each of the 3 sonic installations. In each instance, the units were running and did not have any blockage on the cylinders.

In the boat ramp bay the smell seems to be the worst. Today there was not a lot of visible blue-green algae on the surface (as there was a couple of days ago in the attached e-mail with photos), but it smelled bad - almost like sewage or something.

Do the units break down the algae and create the stench? Or is the odor from something else?

There didn't seem to be any apparent visible difference in the unit installed up the creek by the arboretum, but we had recent rains that may have "flushed out" the heavier algae in that area so it's hard to say.

Any ideas?

BTW, we got an e-mail from another lake association in WI that wanted to try the sonic units through their local rep. They were told to expect improvement after 11 weeks. Didn't you say we should see some improvement after 3+ weeks?

Thanks,

George

From: George Schneider
Sent: Friday, June 19, 2009 3:50 PM
To: 'bruce wahlstrom'
Cc:
Subject: RE: Progress Report

Bruce,

Not much as of yet. I'll get out this weekend and take a closer look, but we've had heavy algae throughout the lake and creek. Secchi depth has been less thatn 1' in parts of the creek, little better out on the lake.

I still need to get out to the units to make sure there is nothing clogging them up.

I'll let you know.

George

From: bruce wahlstrom
Sent: Friday, June 19, 2009 12:48 PM
To:
Subject: Progress Report

Hello George,

Just thought I would check in to find out what you are seeing on Rice Lake in relation to the Sonic Solutions Devices.

=================================================================================================

7/31 - 8/10/09 - Conducted survey on-line (Zoomerang) which confirmed no consensus to keep the units. This agreed with the

Board vote of 11-0 to not keep them.

8/23/09 - Pulled units out of lake and prepared for return to LWD.

8/26/09 - Washed units off in preparation for return to LWD.

8/27/09 - Returned units to LWD.