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Water Quality & Effluent Water
As drought conditions persevere throughout the southwest, more and more golf courses are switching to effluent water to meet their irrigation demands. This is beneficial in that golf courses will have the water necessary to sustain their irrigation needs, but the increase of effluent water can lead to a multitude of problems in regards to lake health.
As ponds on local golf courses move toward an effluent dominated irrigation system, several changes in both water quality and aquatic vegetation growth become more apparent. Typically, the ponds become more eutrophic as the amount of effluent water increases. Eutrophic lakes are categorized by elevated nutrient levels, abundant algae growth, low water clarity, and very low dissolved oxygen levels in lower portions of the water column. Increased salts and elevated nutrient levels (especially phosphorus) will become a problem as golf course ponds receive increased effluent water. Typically, phosphorus is found in very low concentrations in water, but can become elevated in systems that have heavy concentrations of animal and human waste. Phosphorus is the primary nutrient necessary to spur aquatic vegetative growth, and without it, growth is limited. Elevated phosphorus levels, in conjunction with nitrogen, are the causative factors that promote heavy algae growth in effluent dominated lakes. Planktonic algae will usually grow throughout the water column, giving it a greenish "pea-soup" tint, which drastically decreases water clarity. In addition, filamentous algae growth also becomes prolific in lakes that receive effluent water. These two forms of algae can decrease pond aesthetics and shade out many forms of rooted aquatic vegetation that can be beneficial to water clarity and lake health. Not only does effluent water contribute to excessive algae and aquatic vegetation growth, it also emits an unpleasant odor as golfers pass by.
Methods to control excessive algae and aquatic vegetation growth range from reducing the available nutrients in the water column, to algaecide and herbicide treatments. These control methods can be successful, but their duration can also be short-lived depending on the amount of effluent a given lake receives. Because of this, treatment frequency and cost typically increase during the summer months when effluent water is continually pumped into golf course irrigation lakes to meet the demands of the course. In retrospect, effluent water has given many golf courses throughout the southwest the ability to continue operation through periods of drought. However, use of effluent water presents new challenges for lake managers to maintain these lakes above the standards of not only golf course staff, but golfers as well.
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