Lake Foam Control at Riva Hydro plant: New Barriers and Experiments

The temperature is slowly rising, and once again, the phenomenon of white foams emerging freely from the lake outlet of the Riva hydroelectric plant’s penstock occurs precisely on schedule. However, this year – for the first time – the centrifugation of oscillating algae in the turbines of the hydroelectric plant (it’s now confirmed that the dreadful sludge originates from this!) will face a worthy opponent right at the lake entrance: a barrier that will submerge the foams just enough to crush them and make them less intrusive to the overall aesthetics of the Riva Gulf. At least, that’s the hope…

Water Defense and Initial Experiments

As remembered, the foams had already been contained last year, towards the end of September, when a small task force of volunteers, coordinated by Paolo Matteotti and Manlio Patuzzi, placed a series of floating rafts in front of the plant. A brush roughly forty meters long supported as many flexible mats immersed in water, forcing the plant’s discharge to pass through the deeper layers of the lake.

The barrier, temporarily installed for about a month, yielded excellent results: but it must also be noted that, at the beginning of autumn, the foaming from the plant (due to decreased algae proliferation in Lake Ledro) was certainly not as intense as in spring and summer. Now, the protection will be reinstalled, and there is hope that the positive results of the initial experiment will be replicated during the less favorable season of the year.

Moreover, the barriers – which will be deployed in the water at the end of next week – have been modified to enhance their effectiveness. It is also possible that their placement will be coordinated with the construction works for the new lakeside promenade (thanks to the lake discharge of material from the tunnel in Gardesana). If the anti-foam protection proves efficient, then a definitive solution must be devised, harmonized with the entire surrounding shoreline.