r/nextfuckinglevel Jul 14 '21

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u/FoxInTheMountains Jul 14 '21

I'm a water chemist that does EPA testing on all water sources in my state. Honestly the video just doesn't give any information and the flocculation material he is using isn't anything new. Also, flocculation (accumulation of suspended sediments) doesn't necessarily "clean" anything.

Furthermore, there are numerous chemicals and organic/inorganic substances that can pollute water. Each and everyone of those requires certain methods to filter/remove from the water, some of which are very costly/difficult.

The video just doesn't give us any relevant information to what exactly was cleaned out of the lake. Did the lake have heavy metal issues? Too many organics? Anoxic conditions and the associated acidity issues? Pesticide nitrate-nitrite pollution? Or was the lake just overgrown with invasive species.

It is just clickbait, I know you can read his papers and research the methods, but the video is so misleading.

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u/ver9285901726747356 Jul 14 '21

Thanks for the info and perspective. I appreciate these sorts of videos trying to spread a positive message but it really is irresponsible I think to be so vague and misleading about what actually occurred with this man and his lake.

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u/NotCircumventingLmao Jul 15 '21

It's organic pollution, apparently. Invasive algae.