FORT MYERS, Fla. — From the greenish color of the water to the odor that comes from it, now the work to handle the blue-green algae bloom is in North Fort Myers.
This is just off West Bluewater Terrace, near Orange Grove Boulevard and St. Claire Avenue.
Lee county brought an Environmental company to help treat and restore a waterway.
Just days after we reported on the Calusa Waterkeeper advising people here on West Bluewater Terrace to avoid the water from a blue-green algae bloom, now Bluegreen Water Technologies is treating the canal.
“This is a product called lake-guard-oxy and its hydrogen peroxide based product,” Lucia Ross, with Bluegreen Water Technologies.
Ross says the lake-guard-oxy stays on top of the water and triggers the algae without harming plants or marine life.
“You don't want to bleach the water column and you don't want to kill everything in the water,” Ross said. “We're trying to bring the system back into balance.”
A balance that people here want, not just for the water but also for the odor from the bloom.
“My daughter has asthma and some other sensitivity so I’ve definitely told her you need to stay in, walking to the car is good, just until we know that it’s good,” a resident said.
She says people who live on this road will start to see a difference within 24 to 48 hours as the blue-green will put nearly 25 pounds of treatment into the canal.
“It sits on top of the water column and we're not trying to bleach it all,” Ross said.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection allows the use of this product. Ross tells us this is the only canal blue-green is treating for now unless lee county wants more treatments elsewhere.
