Water Quality Management in Recreational Water Bodies: Case Studies

Some of our clients are owners and managers of recreational services such as parks, RV campsites, resorts and marinas. Whether they are located in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec or Eastern Canada, these managers all care about the well-being of their own clients. That’s why they do business with us year after year for the quality of their bathing lakes and the beautification of their water in general.

Common and recurring problems include the presence of coliforms in the water, accumulation of organic muck in swimming ponds and the proliferation of algae.

The installation of aeration systems and the application of natural beneficial bacteria Bacterius^® allows them to control and prevent these problems. The embellishment of the ponds with illuminated Kasco floating fountains also added value to their recreational sites. Here we present two cases for which our products have been a phenomenal success.

Coliform contamination in a camping site

Camping L’EstriVal (formerly Camping Tropicana) in Granby, QC, contacted us when their artificial lake was closed down to swimming. The reason was a bacterial contamination with fecal coliforms, detected during a government inspection. This contamination was possibly caused either by the presence of ducks on the lake, or by the fact that the runoff that arrives there passes through an agricultural area. This contamination may have been caused in part by the presence of a high number of ducks on the lake or by the fact that the runoff water entering the lake passes through an agricultural environment.

When the authorities returned a year later, our client and the inspectors were very pleased to learn that their bathing water classification had gone from a “D” rating to an “A” rating, for the first time in the history of the campground!

They installed three aerating fountains (model VFX), a decorative multi-nozzle fountain (model JF) with lights, a CanadianAir aeration system with Bubble Tubing^® Diffuser and a surface circulator for their four acre (1.6 hectares) lake. When the authorities returned a year later, our client and the inspectors were very pleased to learn that their bathing water classification had gone from a “D” rating to an “A” rating, for the first time in the history of the campground!

Here is a newspaper article about this success story from July 11, 2014: Relief at Camping Tropicana, swimming finally authorized (in French only): Soulagement au Camping Tropicana, les baignades de nouveau autorisées.

Beautification of a park in Montreal

In 2012, the City of Montreal wanted to revamp the appearance and water quality of the 3-hectare pond located in La Fontaine Park. This century-old park is located center downtown. An enormous quantity of filamentous algae, the presence of milfoil and the turbidity of the water were among the concerns that needed to be addressed. Our solutions were selected by other municipalities for treating water bodies in the coming years.

An Aquascreen barrier was installed to erradicate Watermilfoil in 2013. Read the story HERE.

Then, the following phase was to treat the water with the following products:

• Natural beneficial bacteria such as Bacterius^® N, Bacterius^® C and Bacterius^® EQUINOX to boost muck digestion;
• CanadianPond Marine and Midnite Concentrated Dyes to filter UV rays necessary for algae growth;
• Algaecide, for rapid change in algae accumulation and overall appearance of the pond.

Results? They have never seen such clear water, without algae and odors in 40 years!

The following year, a CanadianAir complete aeration system, including Bubble Tubing^®, Torpedo tubing and a ventilated cabinet, was installed by our team. Results? They have never seen such clear water, without algae and odors in 40 years! They realized the use of algaecide is no longer necessary as the aeration and beneficial bacteria treatments are addressing nutrient loading. The use of algaecides is for emergency or remedial treatments, rather than as a systematic treatment.