Beating the Blues by Floc & Lock

Summary

‘Floc & Lock’ is a treatment to mitigate blooms of cyanobacteria (the blues) by imposing phosphorus limitation. First the bloom is sunk to the bottom using a flocculent (Floc), providing immediate relieve of the nuisance, then the sediment, including the precipitated bloom, is capped with a solid phase phosphorus binder (Lock), ensuring a long term effect. The thesis focusses on Lake Rauwbraken
(Tilburg, Netherlands) where blooms of toxic cyanobacteria led to prolonged swimming bans in 2004 and 2007. The lake was treated in April 2008 and remained free of cyanobacterial nuisances for more than 10 years. In 2011, some cyanobacteria emerged from the lake sediment, but, as a result of phosphorus limitation, they died off in an early stage. The thesis explains the lake system analysis, reports on the direct and longer-term treatment effects and includes the fate of lanthanum as the active ingredient in the solid phase phosphorus binder.