Dear Source,
I'm not an expert, but I was thinking the way to handle the odor problem at Enighed Pond is to treat the situation, as one would treat a sewage sludge problem, which Public Works has dealt with before. At the Airport Lagoon they had to remove tons of sludge that settled in this primary sewage system by first using a conveyor belt contraption that exposed the sludge to a lime based product. This procedure then allowed the sludge to dry, and once dry, the sludge was hauled to the landfill. Due to Hurricane Marilyn the operation machinery was destroyed, but it worked while it lasted.
Another option is to treat the pond with organic reducing bacteria, a practice now used in sewage plants that have gone septic and are producing anaerobic bacteria -ergo -hydrogen sulfide residues. Aerate the pond once the pond is inoculated and within a few days – the odor naturally will be taken care of. The pond is right now a sewage plant sludge field – we should treat it as such.
Also, they say the pond was tested before dredging. Did they test the water or the sludge? If they tested the sludge they would have found the hydrogen sulfide level very high and would have been able to take more stringent measures to control the odor.
Marcella Jennings
Lab Director /Caribbean Safe Water Lab
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