MANTUA — BlueGreen Water Technologies, in collaboration with Brigham City, put its carbon removal methodology to the test through the remediation of harmful algal blooms at the Mantua Reservoir Monday.
Mantua Reservoir has grappled with harmful algae outbreaks every year since 2017. In August of this year, the Bear River Health Department issued a warning advisory for Mantua Reservoir, cautioning people against contact with the water.
“Brigham City has spent countless staff hours testing and monitoring algal blooms over the last several years,” states Tyler Pugsley, Brigham City Public Works Director. “These algal blooms have greatly affected recreational opportunities and limited our use of the reservoir.
“Our water quality is of the utmost importance to us. Mantua Reservoir is a valuable water resource to our community, and we are excited for this partnership with BlueGreen Water Technologies along with the possibilities this treatment will provide.”
BlueGreen water scientists applied BlueGreen’s floating algaecide, Lake Guard® Oxy, to the surface of Mantua Reservoir on Monday. The project’s financing is facilitated by environmental impact credits meaning Monday’s efforts came at no cost to Brigham City.
“The Mantua Reservoir project marks the first test of our Net Blue™ methodology, which quantifies how much atmospheric CO2 can be removed by remediating harmful algal blooms,” says Jan Spin, BlueGreen’s President of the Americas, in a statement. “By mitigating Mantua Reservoir’s toxic algae problem, we will not only be reducing a health and environmental hazard, we will potentially remove sequestered carbon in the process.”
Without treatment, the effects of algal blooms tend to perpetuate from one year to the next.
“When carbon-rich toxic algal biomass is treated and sedimented, it sinks to the bottom of the water body along with the carbon it has sequestered,” Spin adds. “We believe that carbon remains locked away in the sediment, helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions warming our planet. We are excited to test this revolutionary new approach at Mantua Reservoir.”
Dr. Jessica Frost, US Science Director at BlueGreen, says that harmful algal blooms can produce toxins that can be harmful to people and animals.
“BlueGreen’s products have a unique, patented coating that allows the algaecide to float on the surface of the water,” Dr. Frost adds. “This mode of action targets those toxin-producing cyanobacteria species where they are most concentrated, allowing our team to use less algaecide than conventional treatment methods to achieve the desired result.”
BlueGreen deploys its technologies across multiple continents in the battle against climate change, concurrently improving water quality and availability.
