LATEST tests indicate the health of Wanganui's Virginia Lake is greatly improved.
And Barry Gilliland, water quality leader for Horizons Regional Council, said the latest readouts from Virginia Lake were "encouraging".
"I'm loath to say that the lake's 'cured', but certainly the results are very encouraging since the SolarBee started working in the lake late last year. The good thing is we're seeing the sorts of changes it was predicted would happen," Mr Gilliland said.
He said the latest sampling Horizons did on January 14 showed a cell density of 226 cells per 100 millilitres of water. A fortnight before Christmas, the reading was 132,750 cells per 100 ml.
Mr Gilliland said other authorities would probably be interested in the effect the Solarbee was having on Virginia Lake because there were other small lakes in the regional council's area that it could be considered for as well.
This time of the year was ideal for any growth of algal bloom.
"This time last year we were considering whether or not to put warnings out for the Wanganui Masters Games. Certainly some other lakes in the district were showing very high levels of algae," Mr Gilliland said.
The SolarBee was interrupting the blue-green algae's ability to "get a competitive edge".
"Normally the alga floats to the surface where it's able to grab the light first. The Solarbee is getting a bit of a flow going across the lake's surface."
Mr Gilliland said prior to council installing the solar-powered circulator at Virginia Lake, algae cell density often exceeded 50,000 cells per millilitre.
"Since then blue-green cell numbers have decreased and the look would currently appear very clear and clean to the casual observer."
He said while the invasive blue-green algae have diminished, the non-toxic green algae and the microscopic animals that graze them have increased.
"We're aware there's quite a high population of small perch and common bullies in the lake, and since the microscopic animals feeding on the green algae are a source of fish food, we might expect the fishery to improve if things keep going the way they are now," Mr Gilliland said.
Mayor Michael Laws said the latest data showed clear water down to at least 3m, while other neighbouring lakes, including Westmere and Wiritoa, had suffered from or were suffering from algal blooms.
"Virginia Lake is pristine and enormous credit needs to go to council staff who supervised this natural, rather than chemical, solution," Mr Laws said.
"Meanwhile, other local authorities around the country are tearing their hair out trying find solutions to the algal blooms in their waterways."
Health of lake greatly improved
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