Nearby news: Green Lake alum treatment to begin next week

We wanted to inform local Green Lake regulars that alum treatment, to preserve the health and safety of the lake, is set to start on April 4.

HAB Aquatic Solutions will be implementing the treatment and will close the parking lot north of the Green Lake Small Craft Center (5900 West Green Lake Way N) to stage alum treatment equipment.

Staging and treatment is anticipated to take two weeks beginning Monday, April 4, and be completed by Monday, April 18.

The 2016 alum treatment is intended to reduce phosphorus levels in the lake, limiting cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) blooms and improving recreational use of the lake.

The alum treatment is applied from a barge on the lake.  The treatment is pumped from a truck staged in the parking lot through hoses that will run over the Green Lake path to the barge. These hoses will require a small ramp to allow Green Lake path users to travel safely over them.

The alum will be applied near the water surface and it removes phosphorus from the water column as it forms small clumps and settles. It then covers the bottom sediments to further prevent the internal release of phosphorus from the sediments. The alum treatment is effective immediately upon application.

Previous lake-wide alum applications in 1991 and 2004 effectively limited algae blooms and improved water quality. The alum treatment is expected to be effective for up to 10 years.

The alum treatment plan was developed as part of the 2016 Green Lake Phosphorous Management Plan.

Click here to learn more about the treatment.