LAKE VIRGINIA PHOTO VIA CITY OF WINTER PARK
Winter Park has secured a $2.1 million state grant to deploy nanobubble technology on Lake Virginia, targeting the toxic algal blooms that have repeatedly closed Dinky Dock Beach and kept Rollins College athletes off the water in recent years.
The City Commission voted unanimously to approve the project on May 27. A floating barge, wrapped in a mural designed to blend into the lake’s surroundings, will anchor off the Rollins College shoreline and pump oxygen into the sediment at the lake bottom.
The technology works by addressing what happens when oxygen levels in lake sediment drop too low, as phosphorus releases from the sediment and feeds the cyanobacteria that cause harmful algal blooms. By pumping oxygen into the sediment, the system breaks that cycle before it starts. Moleaer, the Los Angeles-based company behind the project, describes its product as generating “a billion bubbles in the tip of your finger” that behave fundamentally differently from standard bubbles in water. Regular bubbles are large enough that they rise quickly to the surface and pop. Nanobubbles are so small (roughly 100 nanometers in diameter), about 2,500 times smaller than a grain of salt, that they don’t rise. They stay suspended in the water column for weeks or months, slowly releasing oxygen throughout, and can actually sink to the bottom, where they change the chemistry of the sediment itself, stopping phosphorus from leaching out. No phosphorus release means less fuel for cyanobacteria, which means fewer algal blooms.
City Director of Natural Resources and Sustainability Gloria Eby told commissioners the lake has endured repeated harmful algal bloom closures over the years. “At the time, we had an extensive period where Lake Virginia was simply closed, our ramps were not available,” Eby said. “Even the skiers of Rollins College were not entering the water.” The Florida Department of Health issued a public caution advisory for the Lake Virginia-Dinky Dock area in February 2023, and Rollins sailing, crew, and waterski teams were unable to practice due to high cyanobacteria levels.
The barge will be anchored off the Rollins College walking path, connected to shore by a power cord, and lit at night for watercraft safety. Two water quality monitoring buoys will also be placed in the lake for continuous around-the-clock readings.
Rollins College is a partner in the project. The college will install its own scientific monitoring buoy and has committed to keeping it in place indefinitely after the grant period ends. Water quality data will be monitored collaboratively by Moleaer, the City of Winter Park, and University of Florida laboratories.
“Giving them access to this kind of data will really increase our ability to both train students in this type of scientific work, but then also educate the community about what’s really happening in the lake,” said Dr. Emily Nodine of Rollins College.
Moleaer pointed to its deployment at Lake Elsinore in California (video below) a lake of about 3,300 acres, as a comparable case. The company said Lake Elsinore has had no closures, impairments, or caution advisories since nanobubble deployment, and that the surrounding community of roughly 60,000 people has seen $900 million in investment while the lake stayed open year-round.
Before the barge deploys, every waterfront homeowner on Lake Virginia will receive an educational flyer from the City, and a community awareness meeting is planned. A project update page will be posted on the City’s website. A ribbon-cutting event is also planned. No specific deployment date has been announced.
Other local recipients of the Innovation Technology Grant include the City of Lakeland for nutrient removal at Lake Morton, the City of Apopka for a phosphorus removal demonstration, and Brevard County for a project to help circulation in the Indian River Lagoon.
