How to Control Nuisance Golf Course Pond Weeds

Golf course ponds are much more than bodies of water designed to make the course look pretty. They serve as a technical hazard that causes a standard par three to become a par five (or greater) hole. For some courses, they also act as irrigation water retention systems, which can save hundreds of thousands of dollars over a year. But like all artificial things in life, golf course ponds suffer wear and tear. Since their creation, Mother Nature has been steadily trying to reclaim the water and turn it into a dry meadow. Through natural forces and over some time, unmaintained golf course ponds will go from natural-looking waterways to smelly, unsightly swamps. We'll give you a few tips on maintaining them without going over budget and with as little manpower as possible.

Nutrient Management

As ponds and other artificial water structures age, they collect nutrients from organic matter, such as dead leaves and other plant and animal life. These nutrients sink to the bottom of the pond, where the beneficial bacteria cannot live. Over time, the ponds' nutrient levels will spike out of control, causing massive, unsightly, and even potentially hazardous algae blooms to form. This not only detracts from the beauty of the golf course but can also clog intake pipes for courses that use their ponds to retain irrigation water. You can buy chemicals that temporarily solve the nutrient problem. Most often, they are applied in the springtime, well in advance of the hot summer months, when strong sunlight can contribute to nuisance algae blooms.

Aeration

Aerators help reduce algae blooms by providing oxygen to beneficial bacteria, which, in turn, helps limit algae growth in well-aerated water. Flowing water also provides an aesthetic benefit to the pond, as it has a calming effect on people. If your aeration system isn't working or running at a very low speed, it will need to be maintained. Sometimes, the machinery that runs the aeration system needs servicing or replacement. Other times, there could be a blockage in the intake system. Hiring a professional to remove the blockage will only temporarily solve the problem. If the pond has that much sludge, you'll be fighting an uphill battle to keep your water intake lines clear and free from the mud and muck.

Plant Life

Another thing to remember is that not all animal and plant life benefits a pond. Several species of nuisance weeds and plant life can not only pollute the pond but also make it look unsightly. They are often called "invasive species" and can multiply out of control. It is possible to buy books or bring experts to consult and identify which plants can stay and which cannot. Chemicals can curtail nuisance weed and plant growth, but it's a never-ending battle. A far superior method is to cut down the number of nutrients the pond is receiving; by that, you will need to call in a dredge.

Pond Dredging

Over time, organic sediment that makes its way to the bottom of a pond releases nutrients that nuisance algae and plant life thrive on. Chemicals alone cannot and will not fix the problem. If you regularly treat your pond with chemicals, you spend more money than you should. Having a professional pond dredging company come in and remove the nutrient-rich sediment from the bottom of the pond is the best way to combat algae and nuisance plant blooms. It can also lower or completely negate the need to add expensive chemicals to the water every few weeks. The initial upfront cost may seem like a lot, but compared to the lowered property values that ugly ponds bring, the ongoing cost of chemical treatment, and the man-hours needed to maintain the pond, dredging a pond can save a golf course tens of thousands of dollars every year.

Golf Course Pond Dredging Experts

At American Underwater Services, we have over 20 years of hands-on experience helping golf courses dredge and maintain their ponds. Call us today at (817) 377-8512 to learn more about how we can solve your algae/nuisance weed problem and make your golf course ponds healthy again. 

Nutrient Management

Nutrient management is the science and practice of linking soil, crop, weather, and hydrologic factors with cultural, irrigation, and soil and water conservation practices to achieve optimal nutrient use efficiency, crop yields, crop quality, and economic returns while reducing off-site transport of nutrients (fertilizer) that may impact the environment. It involves matching a specific field soil, climate, and crop management conditions to rate, source, timing, and place (commonly known as the 4R nutrient stewardship) of nutrient application.

Aeration

Aeration (also called aerification or aeration) is the process by which air is circulated through, mixed with, or dissolved in a liquid or substance. Aeration of liquids (usually water) is achieved by:

• passing the liquid through the air through fountains, cascades, paddle wheels, or cones.
• Passing air through the liquid through the Venturi tube, aeration turbines, or compressed air can be combined with a diffuser(s) air stone(s) and fine bubble diffusers, coarse bubble diffusers, or linear aeration tubing. Ceramics are suitable for this purpose, often involving the dispersion of fine air or gas bubbles through the porous ceramic into a liquid. The smaller the bubbles, the more gas is exposed to the liquid, increasing the gas transfer efficiency. If desired, diffusers or spargers can also be designed into the system to cause turbulence or mixing.

Porous ceramic diffusers are made by fusing aluminum oxide grains using porcelain bonds to form a strong, uniformly porous, homogeneous structure. The naturally hydrophilic material is easily wetted, resulting in the production of fine, uniform bubbles. The surface area changes proportionally with drop or bubble size on a given air or liquid. In this very surface area, exchange can occur. Utilizing tiny bubbles or drops increases the gas transfer rate (aeration) due to the higher contact surface area. The pores through which these bubbles pass are generally micrometer-size. Uses of aeration of liquids:

• Pond aeration.
• To smooth (laminate) the flow of tap water at the faucet.
• Production of aerated water or cola for drinking purposes.
• Secondary treatment of sewage or industrial wastewater uses aerating mixers/diffusers.
• To increase the oxygen content of water used to house animals, such as aquarium fish or fish farm
• To increase the oxygen content of wort (unfermented beer) or must (unfermented wine) to allow the yeast to propagate and begin fermentation.
• To dispel other dissolved gases such as carbon dioxide or chlorine.
• In chemistry, to oxidize a compound dissolved or suspended in water.
• To induce the mixing of a body of otherwise still water.

Plant Life

Plant life-form schemes constitute a way of classifying plants alternatively to the ordinary species-genus-family scientific classification. People may categorize plants in everyday conversation as trees, shrubs, herbs (forbs and graminoids), etc. Plant function in the ecosystem is emphasized in the scientific use of life-form schemes, highlighting that the same function or "adaptedness" to the environment may be achieved in several ways. For example, plant species closely related phylogenetically, such as Adoxa and Sambucus, may have different life forms. Adoxa is a small herbaceous plant, while Sambucus is a shrub or tree despite being from the same family. Conversely, unrelated species may share a life form through convergent evolution. While taxonomic classification is concerned with producing natural classifications (naturalness understood either as a philosophical basis for pre-evolutionary thinking or phylogenetically as non-polyphyletic), plant-life form classifications use criteria other than naturalness, like morphology, physiology, and ecology.

Dredging

Dredging is removing material from one part of the water environment and relocating it to another. In all but a few situations, the excavation is undertaken by a specialist floating plant known as a dredger. Dredging is carried out in many different locations and for many different purposes, but the main objectives are usually to recover material that has some value or use or to create a greater depth of water.