Floating Constructed Wetlands Help Water Quality

by David Casaletto

Ozarks Water Watch Executive Director

It seems there is always something new to learn! And on Saturday, May 5, 2012 we all can learn how to build a constructed floating wetland. It will then be installed in Lake Fayetteville, Arkansas. 

A typical floating wetland utilizes a floating media that supports the growth of vegetation. This wetlands can remove nutrients and even heavy metals from the water body (plants must be harvested at the end of the growing season) and it can provide habitat for land and aquatic animals.

One inventor, spurred on by seeing his Labrador retriever emerge from a Montana drainage ditch wearing a red hue and an offensive smell, looked to his childhood experiences of fishing in the northern woods and wetlands of Wisconsin for answers to water pollution. In Wisconsin, floating peat islands (known locally as bogs) naturally cleanse the water and provide a home for the microorganisms that anchor the aquatic ecosystem. This inventor assembled a team of engineers, scientists and researchers to re-create those natural bogs using man-made materials. In simple terms, a floating island is constructed and the roots of the plants and the physical matrix of the man-made material provide a surface on which biofilm, a community of microbes, flourish. Found at the base of the food web, biofilm are nature's cleaners, and as such, are often used in water treatment systems.

22,000 sq. ft. floating island launched in Summer Lake, OR.

At the May 5th seminar, workshop leaders Dr. Steve Patterson and Dr. Bob Morgan will teach you the history and overview of constructed floating wetlands and their benefits for water quality and habitat; give you hands on experience building and planting a floating wetland (expect to get wet and/or dirty); and give you a take-home materials list for everything you'll need to build one yourself. Ozarks Water Watch is proud to be one of the sponsors of this event!

For more information on this seminar, Click HERE.

To register, Click HERE.

Quote of the Week

"Of all our planet's activities--geological movements, the reproduction and decay of biota, and even the disruptive propensities of certain species (elephants and humans come to mind)--no force is greater than the hydrologic cycle."

 

~RICHARD BANGS

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James River and Lake Springfield cleanup set for April 22

3:19 PM, Apr. 4, 2012  

Written byNews-Leader staff 

Reminder April 11 Joplin Seminar - 

Green Infrastructure  

Joplin is hosting a green infrastructure seminar on Wednesday, April 11th, from 8:15 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. at City Hall, Fifth Floor Council Chambers.  This seminar is sponsored by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and GreenTown Joplin.  It will include several presentations on green development practices to aid communities in building and rebuilding with an interest in the triple bottom line of economic, environmental and social equity.  

Presentations will include information on how to improve the project budget by aligning with voluntary green building standards, as well as how to incorporate green infrastructure for cost-effective stormwater management with community benefits. This seminar will also introduce Missouri's Guide to Green Infrastructure: Integrating Water Quality into Municipal Stormwater Management 2012. 

To register, email linda.mebruer@dnr.mo.gov  For details on agenda, directions, registration and professional development hours, visit: 

http://dnr.mo.gov/env/wpp/stormwater/030712-joplin-agenda.pdf 

For more information, Click HERE.