So far, smooth sailing for the alum treatment! Fortunately, the weather continues to cooperate while the alum treatment carries on. Here’s a peek at what’s happening at the Spring Lake Public Access:

This is one of HAB’s smaller barges that is currently dosing Spring Lake with alum.

The barge takes a short break from dosing to head back to the Public Access to fill up with more aluminum sulfate.

HAB’s crew attaches hoses from the large storage tanks at the Public Access to the barge to fill the drums on the barge.

It only takes a few moments for the drums to fill before the barge heads back to continue dosing Spring Lake.

Below is a map of what HAB has treated as of yesterday, October 24th:

If all continues to go well, the treatment should wrap up on or before November 1st! Hopefully, the calm weather will last…

In the meantime, we are requesting that everyone be respectful of the treatment process. It is strongly recommended that boats and other watercraft make an effort to go slow and minimize wakes to prevent the alum from being disturbed until it settles. Additionally, it is recommended that boats give a wide berth to the alum application barge and the monitoring boat that will be following it.

The alum treatment is officially underway! HAB’s crew used the Spring Lake Public Access as a staging area for the barge and storage tanks on Monday, October 21st, and officially started treating Spring Lake with aluminum sulfate yesterday, October 22nd.

Here’s the barge that HAB will use to apply alum to Spring Lake:

HAB’s Barge

The 5,000 gallon tanker trucks will make regular deliveries to these large storage tanks at the Spring Lake Public Access:

The barge will occasionally come to shore to fill up from the storage tanks.

The treatment is expected to last between 10-14 days, so if all goes according to plan, the treatment should wrap up around November 1st. Check back for more updates!

On October 8th, 2013 the PLSLWD Board of Managers voted 3-2 to apply alum (aluminum sulfate) to Spring Lake this fall.  The alum will be applied by HAB Aquatic Solutions, Inc., a specialized company in aluminum-based products from Nebraska. The application will most likely start during the last week of October or early November, and is expected to take between 10 and 14 days to complete.

Alum will be applied to Spring Lake using a barge, where it will form a fluffy, “cotton ball-like” substance that binds to phosphorus. The barge will operate up to 12 hours per day, and there will be several deliveries of alum by 5,000 gallon tanker trucks every day in order to properly dose Spring Lake.

A barge will apply alum to Spring Lake.

Spring Lake residents will be notified of the start of the treatment as soon as the official schedule has been decided. While the alum is being applied to the lake the District recommends that boats make an effort to go slow and minimize wakes. The more calm the water the less the alum will be moved around, and the more effective the treatment will be.

Check out the most recent article highlighting the PLSLWD Board’s approval of the alum treatment in the Prior Lake American. Please contact the District if you have any questions or concerns about the treatment and be sure to stay tuned for updates!