Organic Load Fuels
The Cycle
The Organic Load Cycle
The Organic Load Cycle
Address The Organic Load
When organic matter builds up in the sediment, the sediment consumes oxygen. That rate is SOD. High SOD holds redox / ORP down and can keep internal loading running. Released phosphorus and ammonia fuel more growth, and that growth becomes more organic load. This is the organic load cycle.
Cycle Terms
Organic Load is accumulated organic matter in the sediment — leaves, dead plants, dead plankton, etc. Organic matter also exists in the water and in the food web. What has settled and built up on the bottom is where this cycle starts.
SOD is sediment oxygen demand. It is the rate at which sediment consumes oxygen through biological activity and chemical oxidation.
Redox/ORP is how oxidizing or reducing conditions are at the sediment-water interface. Higher values generally mean more oxidizing conditions. Lower values mean more reducing conditions.
Internal loading is the release of nutrients from the sediments into the water. These include phosphorus and nitrogen. The nitrogen is often released as ammonium.
In Balance
A water body is in balance when organic matter is processed at roughly the rate it is produced. The sediment surface stays oxidizing through most of the year, and phosphorus and ammonia stay in check, with little or no internal loading.
Occasionally Out of Balance
As the load increases, oxygen demand rises and short periods of low redox appear, usually first at the sediment–water interface. Under these conditions phosphorus and ammonia can move from the sediments into the water. They feed new growth, which then settles as more organic matter. These episodes of internal loading are intermittent. When the sediment–water interface becomes oxidizing again, it prevents the water body from locking into a self-reinforcing cycle.
Locked In
A water body is locked in when oxygen demand keeps redox / ORP low often enough that internal loading becomes self-sustaining. Released phosphorus fuels more production and more organic material. The same reducing conditions can also release ammonia. When it is locked in, start by treating the organic load and SOD.
TryMarine
TryMarine is an NSF-60 treatment for water bodies. It lowers SOD, raises sediment redox / ORP, and slows internal loading — so the water body can maintain sufficient oxygen. This allows phosphorus and ammonia to stay in check.
TryMarine requires a data driven, adaptive management approach with on-going applications. It is not a one-time application.