Why do reservoirs need to be cleaned?
Normally, rivers and lakes are capable of self-purification. But when a lot of silt and debris accumulate in them, the ecosystem may not cope. Such an environment becomes favorable for the proliferation of harmful blue-green algae – the water begins to blossom. In addition, it becomes cloudy and dirty, making it difficult for the sun’s rays to penetrate deep into it. This leads to the death of river plants, and the reservoir gradually becomes swamped and begins to smell unpleasant. In such cases, human help is needed.
What methods can improve the health of rivers and lakes?
“Vacuum cleaner”
This technology is perhaps the latest. This year it will be used for the first time to clean the bottom of the Miass River in the Chelyabinsk region from silt deposits. The principle is in the name itself. On water will operate equipment equipped with compressors and special containers – geotubes. They are somewhat similar to large air mattresses. The machine literally vacuums the bottom, collecting sediment and water into geotubes. The sludge will have to rest in such a device to release moisture. The water will pass through the filters and return to the reservoir.
It may seem that the work will have a bad impact on biodiversity – fish and other river inhabitants will simply die if caught in the “vacuum cleaner”. But that’s not true. Almost no one lives in the sludge masses, and moreover, cleaning is not carried out during the spawning period. If there are losses, experts will compensate for them by stocking them with fish: young animals will be released into a clean reservoir.
Now preparations are underway for sites where geotubes with sludge will be stored. After the sediment has settled from the bottom, it will be taken to the landfill.
Water sieve
![A lake sieve, a river “vacuum cleaner” and 3 more technologies that help fight water pollution A lake sieve, a river “vacuum cleaner” and 3 more technologies that help fight water pollution](https://cdn.lifehacker.ru/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/DSC_0757_1713775719-e1713775833775-630x315.webp)
This technology was first used in Kaliningrad in 2022. Residents for a long time complainedthat two city reservoirs – the Yalta Pond and the Gagarinsky Stream – are in deplorable condition. An unpleasant odor emanated from contaminated water even in winter. Therefore, they decided to make them an experimental site for the so-called sieve. The technology is indeed somewhat reminiscent of sifting. Using a special pipe, sludge is pumped from the bottom into containers, inside of which there are baskets with filter boxes – bags made of dense polymer fabric. The sediment remains in the filters, and the water seeps through the fabric into the containers, after which it is drained back into the pond.
Works in Kaliningrad continued one and half year. The next step is landscaping the area. They plan to create a landscaped park area around the reservoirs and make it a recreational area for citizens and guests of the region.
Thanks to national project “Ecology”. Rivers, lakes and ponds became deep and clean again: in five years, more than 417 kilometers of the country’s hydrographic network and 21 thousand hectares of water bodies were restored to a healthy state. By the end of 2024, almost 177 more kilometers of river beds will be cleared and over 3.9 thousand hectares of reservoirs will be restored.
Cleaning using hydromonitors
![A lake sieve, a river “vacuum cleaner” and 3 more technologies that help fight water pollution A lake sieve, a river “vacuum cleaner” and 3 more technologies that help fight water pollution](https://cdn.lifehacker.ru/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Reka-Karpovka-Sankt-Peterburg-1_1713775859-e1713775915107-630x315.jpg)
This method was tested in St. Petersburg. Just a few years ago, in the Karpovka River, which flows through the Petrogradsky district, all the usual artifacts of a reservoir in a metropolis were hidden: tires, logs, bicycles and other large-sized garbage. Cleaning decided to start from diving work. Some finds surprised: a sunken boat and a wartime helmet were raised from the bottom of Karpovka.
Then they began to extract the sludge. Along the bottom of Karpovka pass communications, so we tried to carry out the work as carefully as possible. In difficult areas, experts even used hydromonitors – devices that wash away a thick mixture of silt and soil with a powerful jet of water. Such cleaning takes longer than mechanical cleaning, when sediments are collected with an excavator, but utility networks are not affected. All the silt that was recovered from the bottom was collected and transported outside the water area. By the way, this year in St. Petersburg they plan to clear another city river, the Pryazhka, using the same method.
Replacing bottom silt and sand with soil
Sometimes cleaning alone is not enough. Over the years that a reservoir does not come to the attention of specialists, its ecosystem may decline. So It happened and with the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain. The narrow channels and small lakes in it were heavily polluted and clogged with silt. Because of this, the water level fell, and there was a risk of losing wetlands, fish spawning grounds, habitats of relict plants and many birds.
Work to improve the health of Lake Two Brothers took place in two stages. First, specialists removed deposits of sediment, debris and dead wood. Then, to prevent shallowing, the bottom was deepened and the silt and sand were replaced with clay. It will prevent moisture from going underground and will allow you to maintain an optimal water level even in dry years. By the way, this technology was tested in the region for the first time.
Manual clearing
![A lake sieve, a river “vacuum cleaner” and 3 more technologies that help fight water pollution A lake sieve, a river “vacuum cleaner” and 3 more technologies that help fight water pollution](https://cdn.lifehacker.ru/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/file_1713776018-e1713776079215-630x315.png)
Her applied in a specially protected area – in the Dubki grove in Taganrog. In the coastal zone of the Big Turtle River there are real turtles, but at some point the biodiversity of the natural monument was under threat. The reservoir is so overgrown that lost the ability to self-purify and began to turn into a swamp. In addition, garbage was thrown into it.
In order not to disturb the natural ecosystem of the river, experts decided to abandon technology and rid the riverbed of thickets and bushes manually. Accumulations of silt at the bottom were collected with shovels – in a shallow river this was not dangerous. And with the waste that the townspeople littered the river with, got busy volunteers of the “Water of Russia” campaign – they managed to remove about six cubic meters of garbage.
If you also want to help nature, join the campaign to clean up the banks of rivers and lakes “Water of Russia” Since 2014, 9.5 million volunteers have participated. They managed to clean up over 10 thousand reservoirs throughout the country and remove almost 11 million bags of garbage to landfills. You can also organize your own environmental events on the website coast of good deeds.rf or in mini-application “VKontakte”.
Images in the article were provided by the National Priorities ANO.