FGCU & Lee County Study on Algae Clean-up to Yield Results by Summer 2022

The Calusa Waterkeeper says we are ahead of schedule this year when it comes to the amount of algae in our waters. Lee County is now teaming up with Florida Gulf Coast University on a new experiment to clean up the algae.

There are several gallons of water filled with plants being tested for nitrogen in a Glades County reservoir. Nitrogen and phosphorus are two key factors when it comes to these algae blooms. By mitigating those factors, we can mitigate the blooms.

Dr. Tom Missimer, from the U.A. Whitaker College of Engineering at FGCU, says two things that will make this experiment successful: the technology they are using and the ability to apply it on a much larger scale.

“The slow sand filtration and UV have been used quite extensively with the treatment of drinking water,” Missimer said. “It’s not new technology; slow sand filtration has been around for almost 200 years. If UV really has been, you say, in the last 20 years… well we have to think about, it’s not only the maturity of the technology, but something that could be scaled up to a large scale.”

FGCU is going to get everything set up by June. The study will take around 12 months, so we can expect to see results by next summer.