Cleaning up a quarry?

[terfmop]

Perhaps a dumb question, but I speak from ingnorance insofar as the means to clean and filter a large body of water. From reading the recent reports of Blue Springs, it appears as if Blue Springs will take a while (if ever) to recover from last year's floods.

Is it possible to improve the visibility of a body of water the size of Blue Springs using mechanical, manual, or natural processes (assuming it isn't too cost-prohibitive)? Any inventive engineers have any interesting ideas for such a task?

 

[jwalko]

You probably wouldn't want to do it, but Zebra mussels will do a great job of clearing up the water. The problem is they take over.

I was in Chicago late last year and could not believe the visibility around the docks (near navy pier). I wonder if/believe this is due to the Zebra mussel population.

Regarding mechanical means...I guess its possible, but prohibitively expensive...after all, they have new systems out to purify drinking water in a large scale using thin tubes of filtration material (can't remember what it is called...saw a Discovery Channel special on it, bringing potable water to dry/desert areas).

John

 

[kjvander]

you could possibly set up a pump at one end and the pump the water through a series of filters and then boost it around to the other end of the quarry to almost get a flow effect through the quarry that would clean up any contamination by creating a current. This might stir up a little bit of silt around near the bottom in some areas but it would be one of the better mechanical means of cleaning it. However you might be able to dose it with a coagulant throughout the quarry that would congeal the suspended particals and therefore sink them to the bottom (done in water treatment) but this would take a long time with a big body of water.

jut thought that i would post it just as an answer to the question.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

A key issue is the 1-2" layer of fine silt that has infiltrated from the river and now coats everything. That will always be an issue. I've heard that if Gilboa had flooded when the river threatened to pour into the quarry back in '07, Mike was going to actually drain the quarry, clean the crap out and then it fill again. In his estimation that was the only option to ever get the viz back. Very telling indeed as that would have been a monumental task.

 

[jepuskar]

My local watering hole Haigh Quarry has got alot of foreign objects I am going to remove this year. Boats, vehicles, and platforms that all need to be removed. These are unnatural phenomenons that need to be removed to purify the environment.

Who wants to donate lift bags? I need about 1000 5lb lift bags.

 

[crpntr133]

I had actually thought about this especially after Fridays dive. As Divin'Hoosier stated the trick is going to be the silt that is in there now. You can filter all you want.
If they had a sediment area that might work but would take forever. Pump out some water and let it settle. Then pump it back in without the crap that settled. With a sump pump they could suck silt off everything but that would take forever.
I know of a couple of places that use to use a pool filter and filter the water. how much good it did I don't know. But that can get expensive. They did it with electricity but I always thought that solar panels would pay off in a few years.

I talked to Joe at FRP earlier this year and he flooded, not as bad, several years ago. He said he thought viz would never improve. I think he said it took two years but he also has a ton of fish to help out.

Personally I don't see BS getting back to what it use to be viz wise and top side. It has been all summer long and the docks aren't even close to being repaired. This pretty much tells me that they don't care.
Also the "cave" wasn't set up like it usually is this time of year which tells me that the shop from OH hasn't been over.

 

[terfmop]

My local watering hole Haigh Quarry has got alot of foreign objects I am going to remove this year. Boats, vehicles, and platforms that all need to be removed. These are unnatural phenomenons that need to be removed to purify the environment.

Who wants to donate lift bags? I need about 1000 5lb lift bags.

 

[jepuskar]

What they need to do is simple.

Create an overflow, have the water dump into a huge sump, then to a skimmer, then pump it back into the quarry.

Also, put really big water heaters in the sump so the pumped water back is much warmer.

 

[SwimJim]

My local watering hole Haigh Quarry has got alot of foreign objects I am going to remove this year. Boats, vehicles, and platforms that all need to be removed. These are unnatural phenomenons that need to be removed to purify the environment.

Who wants to donate lift bags? I need about 1000 5lb lift bags.

It's a quarry. it's an unnatural thing to begin with. Old boats, motor cycles etc have nothing to do with vis, but provide habitat for fish. Why remove them? In doing so you are harming the ecosystem, not helping it. You also degrade the viability of the quarry/dive operation. Please explain why what you are doing is a good idea. It makes no sense.

 

[SwimJim]

What they need to do is simple.

Create an overflow, have the water dump into a huge sump, then to a skimmer, then pump it back into the quarry.

Also, put really big water heaters in the sump so the pumped water back is much warmer.

Heating the water will promote alge growth. That will in turn choke everything off. Might as well feed the geese. Are you on the six year plan???