An Experiment in the Artificial Circulation of a Small Michigan Lake

Abstract

The water of the hypolimnion of West Lost Lake, a small Michigan trout lake, was pumped to the surface with a centrifugal pump and discharged into the epilimnion during a 10‐day period in midsummer. The volume of water displaced was 20.7 percent of the lake volume. As pumping progressed the thermocline lowered steadily and the thickness of the hypolimnion decreased. At the conclusion of pumping, the volume of the epilimnion had increased by 49.9 percent and the water of the hypolimnion had been displaced to the surface. The mean water temperature of the lake remained essentially constant during the experiment. In a 3‐week period following pumping, thermal conditions of the lake did not change appreciably. During pumping, conductivity and alkalinity increased in the epilimnion and in the bottom water, and the dissolved oxygen of the bottom water increased rapidly. The addition of bottom water increased the total phosphorus of the epilimnion by 2.8 micrograms per liter during the first 48 hours of pumping. Thereafter, phosphorus decreased to approximately the level encountered before pumping. An eight‐ to tenfold increase in the volume of phytoplankton of the epilimnion took place during the period of pumping. The volume of phytoplankton and the weight of seston remained high for a 3‐week period following the experiment.

The influence of whole lake aeration on the limnology of a hypereutrophic lake in central Florida

“…1) Dissolved oxygen concentrations of bottom waters increase immediately and the lake becomes isothermal (Hooper et al, 1953;Irwin et al, 1966;and Haynes, 1973).…”

Artificial mixing to control cyanobacterial blooms: a review

“…Artificial mixing often aims to reduce algal and/or cyanobacterial growth for drinking water or recreational purposes, to avoid fish kills or even to stimulate fish stock in the water. Originally, it was developed to obtain a higher productivity of trout in Michigan lakes (Hooper et al 1953). Yet, since that study it has mostly been employed to improve water quality in ponds, lakes and reservoirs (Barbiero et al 1996;Visser et al 1996b;Heo and Kim 2004).…”

Effects of lake mixing with an axial flow pump on water chemistry and phytoplankton

“…55, 2, pag. 129-138, 1977 (DO) increases and the lake becomes isothermal (Hooper et al, 1953 ;Bryan, 1965 ;Irwin et al, 1966 ;Leach & Harlin, 1971 ;Lackey, 1971 ;Malueg et al ., 1971 ;Haynes, 1971) . The concentration of Mn" and Fe" in the hypolimnion often decreases (Wirth & Dunst, 1967 ;Haynes, 1971), as does ammonia (NH 3 ') (Symons et al, 1967 ;Brezonik et al, 1969 ;Leach & Harlin, 1971 ;Haynes, 1971), and sulfide (Irwin et al, 1966) .…”

“…Lakes have been destratified by mechanical pumping (Hooper et al, 1953 ;Flick, 1968 ;Irwin et al ., 1966 ;Steichen, 1974) or by using compressed air (i .e ., aeration) (Riddick, 1957 ;Meyer, 1962 ;Ford, 1963 ;Fast, 1966 ;Laverty & Nielson, 1970) . Prior to 1971, reservoirs were generally destratified by bubbling or pumping water from the bottom to the top .…”