After algal blooms return, crews experiment with mitigation tool

BRIGHAM CITY, Box Elder County — A project aimed at killing off harmful algal blooms hit a snag.

In September, an anti-algae and bacteria solution created by BlueGreen Water Technologies was dumped in Mantua Reservoir. However, Brigham City spokesman Cami Sabin said it wasn’t enough to keep the pea-green scum away. The city uses the reservoir for irrigation.

“It would have been probably the end of June or beginning of July that we started to see some test results from our water testing that showed us that the algal bloom was most likely going to return,” Sabin said.

Scientists with BlueGreen Water Technologies said their sediment-like product oxidizes the algal blooms, which then suffocates them. In April, it appeared to show promising results.

“We saw almost an immediate improvement in the clarity of the water,” Sabin said.

She said a few weeks into summer, water testing done by the city showed the blooms would likely return.

“We did have a recurrence of the algal bloom and we have decided to do this maintenance treatment to see how it goes and we’re hoping that it will resolve the algal bloom for the rest of this year,” Sabin said.

The reservoir was closed Tuesday while crews took several boat trips to do a spot treatment with the same product used before on areas of the reservoir where the blooms were visible.

“It’s much smaller than the original treatment,” Sabin said.

The cost of the product was covered the first time it was used, but Brigham City had to pay for the solution this time. Brigham City will need to see if the price tag is manageable going forward.

“When the mayor made his budget for this year, he included a follow-up treatment in the budget,” Sabin said. “We’re doing some testing, and we’ll have to evaluate whether the cost of ongoing treatments is worth the effort that it takes.”

BlueGreen Water Technologies told KSL TV that if it works at Mantua Reservoir, it can be a gamechanger for all bodies of water in the state. Sabin said clean water means better swimming, boating and fishing for locals and visitors.

“We hope that this works,” she said.

Brigham City plans to reopen the reservoir on Wednesday. A representative from BlueGreen Water Technologies was not available for comment Tuesday.

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