Our consultation services are provided in three tiers to ensure that an ideal option is available for everyone.

On-Site Consultations

Our full service, on-site consultations are our most popular offering.

This service involves a specialist visiting the site of your water body to discuss your goals and get a comprehensive view of your site-specific circumstances. From here your consultant will raise awareness of any issues that your water body is experiencing, advise as to the best macro course of action and provide a range of recommendations for you to choose from in order to achieve your aims.

Specialist E-Consultations

Our specialist e-consultations provide the same services as an on-site consultation, they are simply delivered remotely.

This will begin with a phone call to ascertain your aims for the water body following which your assigned specialist consultant will request that you film a walkaround of your water body.

During this stage you will be asked to note aspects such as any issues you are experiencing, the location of your power supply and other key assessment elements with supporting footage.

Your specialist will then review this footage as well as the information gathered during your initial call and provide you with an assessment inclusive of recommendations for water quality improvement.

Phone Consultations

Phone consultations are our most basic tier of consultation support and should only be selected if you are confident that you can supply detailed information on your water body and the issues it is experiencing.

During a phone consultation, your assigned specialist will walk you through a series of questions to gain an understanding of your water body. They will then base their assessment and recommendations on the information you have supplied.

To request a consultation or learn more about how Water Quality Solutions can offer assistance with the management and improvement of your water body, please call us on 1300 283 387.

When managing a waterbody, one needs to think about both the situation at hand and the effects this decision making will have in the years ahead. Our professional installation and maintenance services aim to make this process as easy as possible for all stakeholders.

Whether the purpose of your water body is for public beautification, industrial use, irrigation or something else completely, our expert network will be able to provide you with the services you need to keep everything running smoothly.

The Water Quality Solutions crew consistently develop their skills by attending conferences and undertaking project work with some of the best lake management companies so when hiring us, you get the benefit of years of academic training as well as access to our vast network of experts.

You can also choose to take advantage of one of our specialist consultations alongside our installation or maintenance services if you’re not sure where efforts would be best focused in order to achieve optimal results. Water Quality Solutions will discuss your goals, look at site specific circumstances, give thought, raise issues and awareness and provide a range of recommendations to assist you in your choice of action. In other words, working with a consultant will save time, money and effort, especially when working in such a niche industry.

To discuss our installation and maintenance services, request a consultation or learn more about our other offerings, please call us on 1300 283 387.

Why Do We Need Aeration?

Natural lakes, rivers and streams commonly cleanse themselves with the changing of the seasons, particularly in Autumn and Spring, as part of their adaption to differing temperatures, but man-made water bodies generally require assistance.

This is where the installation of an aeration system steps in.

Rivers and Natural Lakes, for example, turn themselves over as the time of year calls for it, which results in low-oxygen water from the bed rising to mix with oxygen-rich surface waters. This creates a natural aerating effect, promotes ecosystem health, and increases overall oxygen levels within the water. In turn, this increase kick starts the population and activity levels of water cleansing bacteria that process organic pollutants.

A man-made water body, however, usually carries a higher level of pollution (both organic and human generated) paired with a decreased ability to perform natural flushing. If not carefully managed this can lead to issues such as:

• Water odour
• Sludge
• Algae
• Aquatic weed
• Fish kills

While you may not experience these all at once, each issue is a common symptom of insufficient oxygen, so if your lake, dam or other man-made water body is exhibiting any of these effects, you should look into adding aeration.

While it won’t offer an immediate fix, aeration is the most effective mid to long-term solution.

How Do We Know What Aeration We Need?

The type of aeration system that is best for your water body will depend on factors such as the volume, depth and general temperature of the water, as well as salinity and atmospheric pressure.

The ideal aerator will also vary based on factors unique to the site such as power supply, noise requirements, the purpose of the water body, maintenance requirements and capacity, security and aesthetics.

This is why it is always recommended to speak to an expert before purchasing any equipment or implementing any solutions.

Water Quality Solutions take the guess work out of this process and works alongside your team to find the best outcome. We offer a complete range of options to suit the needs of any water body and our friendly team of specialists have the knowledge to ensure you get the right system every time.

We consider ourselves aeration experts and have the testimonials to prove it.

As you’ll see in the above service ‘Aeration’, adequate oxygen is vital to the health of your water body – no matter what its purpose is. In addition to this, however, solar powered aeration offers a unique set of benefits above and beyond the general water quality improvements that adding oxygen provides.

Hence why it has its own section.

Not only does the implementation of solar aeration provide a long-term, sustainable solution but these types of systems have been proven time and time again as people pleasers, which is great for your reputation if your water body is located somewhere in the public eye.

Dedicated solar aeration systems are completely free to run and provide protection against service interruptions due to mains grid failure. Depending on the model selected, they can also eliminate the concerns that come with mixing wiring and water.

It is important to note that a common drawback of dedicated solar aeration is that your system should ideally run at all hours, year round, which a dedicated system is unable to do, however this can be easily combatted by selecting one of the hybrid models we have in stock.

Hybrid solar aeration variants also provide a substantial saving for your bottom line and protect against the aforementioned interruptions while allowing for 24/7 aeration. The best part is, with many models automatically switching from their panels to the grid when the sun goes down, you don’t have to ensure that a stuff member is around to flip the switch every day.

Water Quality Solutions have been working with solar aeration systems for many years and our range is steadily increasing to meet demand. To discuss the logistics of a solar aeration set up for your water body, please call us on 1300 283 387.

Water Quality Solutions understands that when it comes to algae, chemical applications are a ‘necessary evil’, but at the end of the day we set a precedence on environmentally friendly irradiation methods. Algae is often the symptom of an underlying problem so we investigate the cause first and foremost.

The discovery phase includes understanding the unique circumstances that will influence our recommend solution. It doesn’t make sense to offer a chemical treatment to someone when their water overflows into a river full of platypus, nor does it make sense to suggest designing aeration to a client with a lakeside wedding reception in three days time!

Some recommended options for algae control:

Aeration

Biological water treatments

Floating Wetlands

Nutrient Reduction

Algae requires temperature, food and sunlight to grow. Reducing algae’s food source is ultimately the best treatment method, tackling the underlying problem found in most dams – too much nutrients (eutrophication). The main nutrient sources for algae are nitrogen and phosphorus, decomposing leaves, animal waste and storm water inputs. Nitrogen can be removed from water naturally by combining aeration and biological water treatments. This combo boosts beneficial bacteria that then converts nitrogen into a gas that escapes into the atmosphere. Beneficial bacteria can take care of phosphorus by locking it up in their cell structure making it unavailable for algae. This process is assisted by biological water treatments and flocculant that can be sprayed over the surface causing the phosphorus to sink, making it less available to algae.

Sunlight reduction

Limiting the amount of sunlight can help with some types of algae control, especially filamentous species and some of the smaller types such as planktonic algae. Lake dyes turn water blue or black and reduce the amount of sunlight available to plants and algae. A treatment in late winter can be useful to prevent the first onslaught of algae as the water warms.

Ultrasonic

Many types of algae have an internal buoyancy chamber that allows them to float. These chambers can be broken with ultrasonic frequencies in a similar way that a crystal glass can be shattered by the right sound wave. With the buoyancy chamber gone, the algae sinks to the bottom. Not all algae have buoyancy chambers and different algae is effected by different frequencies so it’s important to choose equipment with a wide range and use them in conjunction with nutrient reduction methods for best results.

Chemical water treatments

Copper is the most commonly used algaecide but copper sulphate has been replaced with safer chelated copper products that are less damaging to the aquatic environment. Other chemical treatments to combat algae include Clearwater Flocculant that can bind and sink phosphorus removing it as a food for algae; Algae Lift, a peroxygen chemistry used to bleach the Chlorophyll-a found in algae, making it susceptible to attack from naturally occurring bacteria.

Fish Stocking

Silver Perch are a native fish that are effective at grazing on filamentous algae. This however, is site specific because if more preferable food is available they’ll probably eat that first. Fish have tastes too!

Controlling algae successfully over the long term is about manipulating the environment it grows in. Water Quality Solutions will make sure you reach a decision that best suits your organisation.

Biological Water Treatments

Biological Water Treatments are the safest and most natural option available for treating dams, lakes and other commercial water bodies.

Rather than working against your water body’s ecosystem, biological treatments work alongside your lake or dam by increasing the population, biological activity and effectiveness of beneficial microbes (mostly bacteria) in the water.

These beneficial bacteria are actually naturally occurring, but in man-made waterbodies there’s too much organic waste for the indigenous bacteria to process, so the aim is to grow more beneficial bacteria and therefore breed less issues associated with excess nutrient load.

This is effective as the bacteria either digest the nutrients into elements such as water, hydrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide or take them up as part of their own cell structure.

Basically this means that when provided with the correct environment to thrive in, these organisms out-compete algae, weeds and odour producing bacteria for available nutrients, making them a valuable resource for improving water quality.

Biological Water Treatments can also be applied in a specially targeted manner to achieve results such as:

• Sludge reduction
• Odour control
• Ammonia reduction
• Water clarification
• Organic waste degradation following application of an algaecide or herbicide.

Long story short? These natural, all-purpose treatments produce more beneficial bacteria which equals less algae and aquatic weed.

To better understand biological water treatments call us on 1300 283 387.

Example – Biostim Pellets

They are ideal for large water bodies as they provide a high level of biological augmentation with a low dose rate and as Biostim Pellets settle on the bottom of the water body in the sludge layer, they can be used for spot treatment of problem areas.

For more information please refer to the Product Flyer.

Dam Liner Installation

Water Quality Solutions are experienced with large scale dam liner installation using a variety of materials such as EPDM, HDPE, LLDPE, PVC, polyethylene, GCL and Bitumen. Each has its own advantages and uses, and the best dam liner for you will also depend on the specific purpose of your water body and how it interacts with the rest of your business.

I.e., liner for repairing a leaking dam will differ from liner for a new dam and you wouldn’t necessarily use the same liner for a water body in an agricultural waste processing facility as you would for a public lake.

We understand that there are many choices in this field (and even more factors that affect which is best) so we help make the process as easy and transparent as possible.

Our friendly expert team will be happy to assess your water body and supply recommendations for your dam lining needs. We can also arrange the installation of your liner and provide ongoing water body maintenance if you’d rather not deal with the intricacies yourself.

Man-made waterbodies eventually accumulate more nutrients than they can process, resulting in an excessive algae or aquatic weeds. Floating wetlands are an effective tool for soaking up nutrients in aquatic systems making them unavailable for algae or aquatic weeds. Floating wetland panels float on the surface of the water and are planted with selective species of wetland plants. As these plants grow their root system penetrates the water taking nutrients in order to survive.

Floating treatment wetlands are a low-tech are favoured by municipal bodies and are a low-tech tool to strip nutrients from any waterbody.

Floating wetlands can:

Clarify water

Absorb heavy metals

Remove dissolved organic matter

Reduce odour

Suppress wave action and bank erosion

Provide a habitat for fish and birds

Reduce evaporation and

Create an aesthetic feature for the public

The modular design of our floating wetland panels mean they’re easy to ship on standard sized shipping pellets and are easy to install with no cranes or other equipment other than a small boat or kayak required.

Newborn floating wetlands installed in La Trobe Valley

Unwanted growth of algae or biofilms in pipes and sprinklers cause havoc for irrigation systems. Even filters designed to screen out particles don’t offer much protection when bacteria, algae or fungus are growing on the filters themselves.

Water Quality Solutions adopt methods to reduce unwanted growth in dams as well as the pumps, filters, pipes and sprinklers that move water out of them. Solutions include:

Supply of flocculants and biologicals

Aquatically registered algaecides & herbicides

Iron and sludge reduction

Clearing weeds from suction points

We’ve made many a Golf Course Superintendent and Nurseryperson happy because they’re no longer spending hours tending to blockages and equipment failures!