Water-Related News

Lake County launches water quality pilot project

MOUNT DORA — Lake County Public Works’ Environmental Services Division is launching a pilot project geared toward improving water quality at Lake Joanna by using a novel method of nutrient removal.

Flocculent logs, or floc-logs for short, are typically used for clarifying turbid water discharge from construction sites. For this project, the county is using a combination of floc-logs and burlap curtains to attempt to prevent excess harmful nutrients from entering Lake Joanna, a body of water listed as “impaired” by the state of Florida.

The floc-logs contain a food-grade polymer that binds to the water’s suspended solids and nutrients such as phosphorous and nitrogen, allowing them to either settle out or attach to the burlap curtains for removal.

The Environmental Services Division staff along with two volunteers, University of Central Florida (UCF) student Michael Grovac and UCF graduate Stevie Jungferman, installed the floc-logs and curtains Wednesday in a drainage channel constructed over 40 years ago that discharges into Lake Joanna.

The project will continue for up to six months to allow the county to gather data through the rainy season. If successful and cost efficient, the use of floc-logs may be expanded for similar situations throughout Lake County.

“This project not only demonstrates Lake County’s commitment to preserving and protecting our natural resources, but also shows how Lake County continues to seek innovative and cost effective approaches to protecting those resources,” said Nicholas Mcray, Lake County Public Works stormwater project manager.

For more information about the project, contact Nick Mcray at (352) 483-9080 or Cathie Catasus at (352) 253-1686.