Polluted lake Lago in Palo Alto
 

We are at the end of the rope and do not know what to do you get a unpleasant odor from the lake, our group has call everyone, been to meetings had petitions went outside The Villages to no avail we are lost.

Any ideas?

I’d assume that if they did treat for algae on 14th as written in the Villages News, then what your smelling (reminds me of seaweed/ocean smell) is the algae dying. A heavy rain should help sink the algae to the bottom of the pond, thus reducing the smell. We are forecast to get some good rain today. Keeping my fingers crossed for you.

Have Aluminum Sulfate treatments been proposed? The Alium basically binds with the nutrients in the water column and sinks them to the bottom. This COULD help.

Adding a colorant (dye)to the water is another option. It basically reduces the amount of light in the water column. Less light = less algae growth. The downside to the ponds in the villages is that the water flows thru them quite quickly. So if that pond is connected to other ponds, the colorant would quickly disappear. If the villages could stop this flow, it might be an option. Another factor in determining success of a dye treatment is the underwater shape of the pond. Dye works better on ponds with steep sides vs those with a shallow area and then a drop off.

Carp = hit or miss. Sometimes takes a while to see benefits, if at all. Gators diminish stock as well.

Maybe you should be advising that District………..

Maybe if they paid him for his services he would. The problem sounds disgusting and it's difficult to believe "that District" can't get a handle on the issue.

The management of the ponds in TV is atrocious.

The pond surrounding the 17 hole at TDS, has virtually no "open water". When I came to TV 5 years ago, it was mostly open.

If something doesn't happen soon, the tourist boats at Sumter Landing are going to pull out of the dock, turn right around & come right back ... there's hardly any open water left to travel through.

Ponds with shallow sides (as Pondboy said) are nearly impossible to maintain. Ponds all need movement and aeration, or they simply atrophy ... & stink.

Yeah, it doesn't appear they're on a healthy, survivable path and harvesting pond growth is expensive. Is that another large expense coming up for the residents? :shrug:

Reconcile this? That pond has been there since approximately the turn of the century. It has never been in its current condition. What gives between now and the last quarter century?

Good question.. soil disruption or chemicals, pollution?

This is sort of an answer ...

Next time you drive around TV, look at the amount of homes, buildings, pavement, etc. EVERY drop of water that formerly landed on the grass, trees, whatever was there before the pavement, homes, buildings, etc ... now has to be accounted for. It has to be collected, managed, "cleaned" and moved to an acceptable receiver.

What that means, is the natural drainage routes have been modified to meet regulations. The primary goal, is to eliminate/control "flooding". Secondarily, the drainage/water is supposed to be "cleaned".

All the areas that hold water, be they ponds, detention basins, retention basins, etc, all function to "clean" the water. In other words, most of the crap that's collected from the homes, buildings, roads, etc., gets sent to "natural cleansing" basins ... whether created or formerly existing.

The dirt, debris, pollutants, etc don't just disappear into the sky. They go into the ground, they grow trees & weeds, they "fill" ponds and depressions.

The drainage system isn't like a big giant sewerage treatment plant, that artificially cleans sewerage. It's a "natural system" that collects, naturally treats and then disperses most every drop of rain that falls.

(Some amount of drainage is collected and "purified" for re-use.)

Sure, but back to the question at hand, that pond has been there since the turn of the century. Why is it going bad now and not 5, 10, 15, or 20 years ago? The area in question is very mature by Villages standards and has been collecting runoff since its inception, but only now it’s going bad? Don’t say it’s because of years of accumulating runoff, because relatively brand new ponds in the southern areas are experiencing the same fate. Logic would dictate that’s it’s gotta be because of another factor?

The presence of a golf course is a big clue. Fertilizer runoff is a major problem for lakes and ponds. Particularly serious if not enough water flow in/out of the pond to flush it out. Either needs animals/fish that eat vegetation or better fertilizer management on shoreline properties. Offsetting chemicals with more chemicals not a great solution. Pond can support more fish if add fountain to aerate the water-particularly a problem in southern areas with warmer water. Suppose pond is too small to support manatees ;)

I live on a pond in Michigan in the Summer. They treat it regularly. In addition, we are not allowed to use certain fertilizer or chemicals on our grass. Are there are considerations given to that in the villages?

I’ll bet the pond didn’t stink before all the homes were built. Conclusion, buyback all the homes and let the area revert to its natural state.

Health issue?
 

Perhaps the County Health inspector would be helpful...

Lack of maintenance
 

The maintenance may have been neglected. It’s easy to kill weeds in ponds and dye them indigo. Just use copper sulphate for the weeds and pour in some Aquablue or a similar die. The problem with most of these ponds is the depth and fertilizer. Sunlight easily penetrates to the bottom allowing rapid growth here in Florida. The fertilizer eventually leads to the eutrophication you mentioned.

Go pick up a "sample kit" and collect it, then have them send it off for testing. Just like soil testing, will give you some sorta facts to fight with for minimal cost. Soil testing is usually around 50 bucks.

And before you say it's the water, not the dirt. The heavy materials lay on the bottom of the pond (soil). That's where you find the chemicals that need testing.

Good chemicals or bad chemicals...or a higher than norm of something.

Just my opinion.

The other lake in that village, (which is an actual named lake and not a retention pond) is doing just fine.

I’m sure if you write a nice letter to the attorneys for the Jennifer Parr Family Trust they will get right on it.