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Do's ........
- When you plant or replant your lawn, use a
seed
mixture with a high percentage of fescue grass, it requires much less
fertilizer. Excess fertilizer can run-off and act as a nutrient
for the weeds and algae in your
lake.
- Leave grass clippings on the lawn. They return
nutrients to the lawn.
- Avoid fertilizing your lawn or garden. If you
must
fertilize, use a product with little or no phosphorus such as 23-0-6,
30-4-4 or 26-4-4. Lake weeds and algae are good sources of nutrients
for your garden.
- Use lake water for watering your lawn or
garden.
Water only when necessary.
- Rake your lawn (leaves) away from the lake.
Leaves
contain large amounts of nutrients.
- Start a compost pile using leaves and weeds
raked
from the lake. This compost is excellent for your garden and landscape
plants.
- Maintain your septic system regularly. The
septic
tank should be pumped and inspected every one to three years, depending
on usage.
- Reduce the amount of water used in your home by
adding water dams to your toilet tank and installing faucet aerators
and low-flow shower heads. This helps your septic system operate more
efficiently, preventing sewage flow into your lake.
- When feasible, plant a shoreline (20 feet wide)
of
shrubs, bushes and trees. These plants utilize phosphorus and nitrogen
and act as a buffer zone or filter before groundwater and run-off pass
into the lake.
- Be sure there is proper drainage on and near
your lot
so that erosion will not take place.
- If you must use fertilizers, try to find a good
liquid fertilizer as these are far less likely to run-off into lake
waters and are also more likely to be absorbed and retained in the
soil.
Don'ts .....
- Drain any type of sewage into the lake.
- Burn leaves near the shoreline. Burning turns
the
leaves into instant fertilizer which is easily washed into the water.
- Destroy the soil holding vegetation on the
shoreline.
These plants prevent erosion.
- Clean fish on the dock and throw remains into
the
water.
- Alter the natural shoreline unless state
approved by
the Department of Natural Resources.
- Feed ducks or geese from your dock. Plenty of
natural
food is available in the lake. Ducks and geese may pass on swimmer's
itch and leave significant amounts of "natural" fertilizer.
- Use a garbage grinder in your kitchen.
Ground-up food
contributes to septic system problems and may add nutrients to the
lake.
- Use cleaning products containing phosphates. In
Michigan, laundry detergents containing phosphates are banned, but read
the label on other products to be sure they do not contain them.
- Harm your septic drain field by adding fill,
planting
deep rooted trees nearby, or driving a vehicle over it.
More on the Hazards of Nutrients...
Dr. Darryl Warncke, professor of soil fertility at
Michigan State University cites nitrogen and phosphorus as the two main
nutrients that can enter a lake and stimulate aquatic plant growth. He
says that aquatic plant growth is a key player in eutrophication, the
natural aging process every lake is undergoing. The natural aging
process is supposed to take several thousand years, but recent human
actions, particularly the use of nitrogen and phosphorus based
fertilizers, has accelerated eutriphication the point that some lake
residents have been able to see their lake's water quality deteriorate.
"Phosphorus based fertilizers are actually more of
a
problem than a fertilizer with more of a nitrogen base," Warncke says.
"Phosphorus is the biggest contributing factor to stimulation of
aquatic plant growth. Many aquatic plants have the ability to absorb
dissolved nitrogen that's already in the lake water." It's important
for lakefront property owners and residents to minimize the phosphorus
inputs into the lake caused by fertilizing lawns, according to Warncke.
He says that in many instances soil already has enough phosphorus to
support a green lawn, and that applying phosphorus based fertilizers
can be a waste of time, energy, money and a potential threat to the
lake.
"I strongly urge lakefront residents to take a
sample of
their soil and have it analyzed for its phosphorus content before using
a phosphorus based fertilizer," Warncke says. "Analyzing the phosphorus
content of the soil can determine whether this nutrient is needed at
all, or at what levels it's needed to maintain a healthy lawn. In many
cases, homeowners over-apply phosphorus based fertilizers or
unnecessarily apply these fertilizers." Lakefront residents who want
their soil analyzed for nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations can send
soil samples to the Soil and Testing Laboratory, Room 81, Plant and
Soil Sciences Building, Michigan State University, East Lansing.
Michigan 48824. For more information, call the soil testing lab at
(517) 355-0218.
More on Maintaining your Septic
System...
If you live on shoreline property, maintaining
your
septic system requires more care and work than maintaining similar
systems in other places. That's because soil and water conditions near
the shoreline may make the system less efficient in treating waste,
which could, in turn, cause harmful pollutants to get into your lake,
stream or pond.
Because septic systems on shoreline property are
often
close to the water and are sometimes saturated during high periods,
they are very likely to leak wastes to lakes and streams. Also, when
shorelines erode, the distance between the septic system and the
shoreline gets shorter and shorter, making it more likely that liquid
waste could move horizontally through the soil to the bank and then
quickly over the surface to the water. This pollution can happen even
though your system appears to be working properly and complies with
local health department codes.
Nutrients (especially phosphates) from leaky
septic
systems play a major role in causing excessive weed and algae growth in
lakes and ponds. Just a small amount of additional phosphates in a lake
or pond can make a huge difference in the amount of aquatic weeds that
grow during the spring and summer. Excessive weed growth, in turn,
affects the ability of fish to grow and could even result in large fish
kills in summer or winter. Too many weeds and algae make the water less
enjoyable to use. Liquid wastes from your septic system that reach the
water increase the chance that swimmers near your shore could catch a
variety of diseases and ailments, some serious, that are associated
with these waters.
There are numerous symptoms for telling if waste
from
your system is reaching surface water.
- Excessive weed or algae growth in the water
near your
shore.
- An increase in infections or illnesses
associated
with swimming in the area.
- Unpleasant odors, soggy soil or liquid waste
flow
over the land surface.
- Health department test results indicate the
presence
of biological contamination.
- Indicator dye put into your septic tank reaches
lakes
or ponds.
There are a variety of things you can do to help
prevent
the problems associated with having a septic system near shoreline
areas.
- Regularly pump and maintain your septic system.
- Conserve water in your home.
- Redirect surface water flow away from your
absorption
field.
- Plant a greenbelt between your absorption field
and
the shoreline.
- Participate in a community sewage system or
alternative disposal methods, if available.
- If your constructing a new home, construct the
septic
system as far away from the shoreline as possible.
Sources: 1 Dean Solomon, Natural Resources
&
Public Policy, Southwest & West Central Regions
2 Timothy S. Dmoch, Oakland Lakefront, April 1993.
3 Dean Solomon and Eckhart Dersch, Maintaining your Septic System,
Michigan State
University, Extension Bulletin WQ13, June 1987.
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