Overview
This project aimed to reduce the amount of toxic algae growth on a local Oakland Lake. Lake Temescal is a wonderful greenspace surrounded by freeways and houses, that the community is able to use for recreation and gatherings. However, the lake itself is closed multiple times a year due to toxic algae growing on the lake due to excess nutrients.
Our solution was to build a launch a man made floating wetland on the lake in order to naturally filter the water in two ways: 1. the plants that grow on the wetland using the excess nutrients to grow, 2. A biofilm of bacteria under the wetland that eats the excess nutrients.
Our wetland was completely made from natural materials, was a total of 64 square feet large, and had a pulley system for maintenance. The wetland was successfully launched onto the lake in the summer of 2019, and lasted for 3 months before it was vandalized and had to be removed from the lake.
Also available in: Atom
.