Lake Foam Management: Successful Testing of Floating Barriers

The floating barriers provided excellent service, remaining in place for about twenty days in front of the lake outlet of the Centrale del Ponale.

Throughout the entire period, the notorious foams (produced by the centrifugation of microalgae from Lake Ledro) were neutralized, and the gulf did not suffer from terrible aesthetic contaminations.

As soon as the rafts were removed (which was planned as part of the experiment coordinated by Paolo Matteotti), the foam—although it is never of exceptional extent even in autumn—immediately returned to be noticeable.

Results and objectives of the experimentation

What does this mean? Simple. That the system of sinking the wastewater (and dispersing the algae slurry) via the rafts demonstrates a certain efficiency.

“But before transforming the barrier into a fixed structure,” says Paolo Matteotti, “we want to repeat the experiment in spring, when algae are even more prevalent.

We will also try to perfect the system. If the result, as I hope, is satisfactory, a fixed barrier could be designed and built next autumn.”

Future strategies and agreements

This is, therefore, the work program of the anti-foam task force. Additionally, in the meantime, an agreement between the Municipality, Province, and Enel is expected to be finalized regarding who will pay for the barrier.

It would be truly absurd to end up with a solution in hand for a long-standing and very annoying problem and still have to wait further…