If I were a farmer

[Bug Guy]

Skip,

Originally Posted by Skip

...Bet it could be done for $1,000.00 by using local volunteers. I'll put money people who live on the creek would do the sampling...

You'd think so, but experience has shown that volunteers generally do a poor job of collecting data because 1) they quickly tire of the work (don't work in the rain, go on vacation, etc.) and 2) they don't understand the system enough to consistently take the proper measures/readings/etc. required. In some cases, local people care a lot and do a great job, but not always.

Originally Posted by Skip

...Many water troubles are due to low O2 levels - pumping O2 into the creek at bottom sure can not hurt any thing. They need $150,000.00 to prove this ?

Actually, high oxygen can cause problems. Certain bacterial processes that help rid the water of Nitrogen require low oxygen (denitrification). If these processes are screwed up, the rivers (which drain over fertilized lawns) could end up doing more damage to the bay than if they were left alone.

This type of hard engineering for remediation is somewhat controversial. Scientists are generally split on the idea, but architects and engineers love it because it means more work (and money) for them.

It would be a guess, but I'd assume any significant upgrades to a treatment plant would costs in the millions at least (did a quick google search and found those types of numbers).

[Ed D]

I've always wondered if a bubbler system, powered by solar panels attached to existing buoys in the mainstem of the Bay, might help with low O2 at depth, during the summer.

Rather than install it in a river/stream where it might be counter-productive, in the mainstem, you are talking about a lot more water.

I'm not saying that it would in any way solve the problem, but it might help in some of the really bad areas.

Where is my thinking wrong?

[5th Tuition]

Ed; this is all speculation and opinoin. I think a bubbler in the river is questionable, a bubler in the bay would be like pissin in the bay and thinking it would raise the tide.

I still wonder why we can't build a filtration plant and space them up and down the bay (similar to the interactive bouy system). Use wind or solar and pump dirty in/release clean out.
My system would probably be marginal as well. It's hard to fathom how much volume of water is in the bay.

5th (Marty)

[garlien]

I like the idea though Marty...

One thing we all forget is that the bay is like a lasagna pan...Not really that deep but wide and shallow....

Not sure what would make a difference in the Bay but if we could get the rivers and the creeks working better, it would still have a huge effect on the Bay as a whole...

A start somewhere, at least where it makes sense, is better than nothing....

We should have used some of that government re-investment act money to help the Bay not repave roads it rich neighborhoods that did not need it...