Nanobubble tech could improve lake
Nanobubbles are a fraction of the size of standard oxygen bubbles in water and remain suspended in the water for long periods of time, weeks or even months.
He said nanobubbles would supply a stable level of oxygen so the harmful nutrients could not be released into the water, as well as helping zooplankton to grow, which could then provide food for the fish and lead to balance in the ecosystem.
The company approached the community board after reading about the problems of the lake via a story published in the Cambridge Edition.
If used in Lake Te Ko Utu, Samuel said improvement would be visible within months.
Cambridge Community Board chairman Mike Pettit took particularly well to the idea.
When asked, Pacific Driveline said it would be interested in entering an agreement to underwrite some of the costs for Waipa District Council, as it would be the first use of the technology in New Zealand and a good marketing opportunity.
The board agreed to relay the idea to Waipa District Council for further consideration. of nanobubbles is that they do not rise and burst to the surface like ordinary gas bubbles, rather they are hardly buoyant and eventually sink to the bottom.
This means that the oxygen is staying in the body of water (sometimes for months at a time) rather than escaping into the atmosphere like a normal bubble. When nanobubbles are released into a liquid, they are picked up by the currents, spreading throughout the layers of the water, and then slowly sink to reach the sediment at the bottom.
Due to the large surface area of nanobubbles and because the gas is not escaping into the atmosphere, it is possible to transfer more than 90 per cent of oxygen to the water, and increase dissolved oxygen at every layer of the water, something which is not possible with existing aeration systems.
As the system has a high oxygen transfer efficiency rate, it does not require any heavy machinery and has a very low power consumption. Pacific Driveline believed it could apply the technology in New Zealand to help clean-up lakes, rivers and ponds.