The Importance of Oxygen
Oxygen is the most important constituent of water body health.
Oxygen is an essential element for all aquatic organisms that
breathe. Therefore, there is a direct relationship between the
oxygen concentrations and exchanges occurring in a water body,
and the physiological status of aquatic organisms.
- Without oxygen at the bottom
of the water body, anaerobic bacteria (those that live
without oxygen) produce acids. These acids not only increase
acidity, but also cause a massive release of phosphorus and
nitrogen, two major fertilizers, from the organic sediment
and into the water column.
- These same anaerobic
bacteria put toxic gases in the water including hydrogen
sulfide (that rotten egg smell), ammonia, carbon dioxide and
methane. These gases are all toxic to fish, beneficial
bacteria and insects.
- Lack of bottom oxygen is the
cause of odors produced by anaerobic bacteria.
- These same anaerobes kill
beneficial bacteria and insects that would feed on the
bottom organic sediment and biodegrade it into carbon
dioxide, water and a tiny amount of inorganic ash. This ash
is beneficial in reducing acidity.
- Lack of oxygen can cause
fish kills or prevent fish from feeding on benthic (bottom
feeding) insects.
- Lack of fish enables
disease-hosting mosquitoes to thrive, as mosquitoes are
natural food for fish.
- Anaerobic bacteria include
many types of
pathogenic (disease-producing) bacteria. These
diseases include cholera, scabies, typhoid, shigella,
salmonella, botulism and miscellaneous bacteria that cause
infectious boils and sores.
- Without oxygen at the bottom
at all times, beneficial bacteria and insects cannot
biodegrade the organic sediment. Large accumulations of
organic sediment follow.
The concentration of dissolved oxygen found in a water body
and available to the organisms, insects, fish, etc., is the
result of many dynamic processes. The primary sources of
dissolved oxygen are the atmosphere and photosynthesis.
Oxygen-using processes, both biological and chemical,
counterbalance these sources of oxygen. Any oxygen
concentrations found in a water body at any specific time
are the result of numerous dynamic changes.
The most important factor in getting oxygen to the bottom of
a water body is that it must be done without mixing the nutrients
in the sediment, and the anoxic water at the bottom with the water column by turbulent mixing. The
toxic bottom gases must be removed without mixing them with
the rest of the water body.
Oxygenating the bottom binds up to
97% of the phosphorus and nitrogen in the water to the bottom
sediment where it becomes food for beneficial, muck consuming
bacteria and insects. The insects then become one of the
best foods for fish, improving fish growth, health and number.
CLEAN-FLO's unique aeration
process is much more effective than normal aerators and achieves
many benefits that conventional aerators cannot attain.
Read more
about lake aeration.
When is the best time to start?
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Aeration Treatment
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Wastewater Aeration
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Algae on surface before
inversion / oxygenation |
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No algae after
CLEAN-FLO oxygenated the lake
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Oxygen from the surface
to the bottom produces a beautiful pond
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