This is a place to ask questions and share with your Duck Lake neighbors. Please keep the discussion cordial.
Duck Lake
Property Owners Association | Highland, MI
This is a place to ask questions and share with your Duck Lake neighbors. Please keep the discussion cordial.
Duck Lake 
April 7, 2019 at 6:01 pm
We are in Zone 1 – off of White Lake Rd. We see bubbling on the other side of our part of the lake, but not near our home or anywhere close. I thought there would be more “units” based on the final map, or are they there, just not bubbling? We are concerned due to the depth of muck preventing us from getting our boat onto the lake. I apologize if this was covered in a meeting. My work hours do not coincide, and we will be out of town for April’s meeting. Thanks for all the work.
April 9, 2019 at 10:55 am
Hi Monika,
Just a quick FYI. They are still working on getting your section of the lake up and running. Due to the tough geography and water conditions last fall, they had to place the lines on top of the ice to get them in place for this spring. Due to this delay it has taken them a little extra time to get that area dialed in and up and running.
I have confirmed with Ever Blue ( a Lake Savors Company) that they will be out next week, and will be out every week after until all 170 diffusers and all 7 compressor are dialed in and fine tuned.
I hope everyone has enjoyed the warm weather so far. Please remember when getting your yard ready to keep the fertilizer 30 feet away from the lake to insure that we don’t spray any in the water, and to minimize run off. The system will have its hands full trying to fix 60+ years of leaves and weed decay, it will really help if we don’t have to battle that as well.
Thanks everyone,
Ryan
April 10, 2019 at 11:30 am
Thanks much. Appreciate it.
April 10, 2019 at 11:44 am
Ryan – now that I think of it, we never had lines on the ice in our area. (I remember reading zone 2 would – the bay next to us.) Does that change anything, or can we still expect them to add to our area – Zone 1?
Thanks so much!
April 12, 2019 at 1:54 pm
Hi Monika,
I am sorry I got your area confused with the other White Lake Rd area on Duck Lake. Your part of the lake has airlines already ran throughout the whole part. However, they are replacing your diffuser plates with “shallow” water ones. The current ones are just place markers and may not be bubbling. As they come out to service and install the new shallow water plates, I am confident you will see that they are indeed around your part of the lake.
Please remember that the diffusers DO NOT need to be directly in front of your house. The plates are solely to put air into our lake to make sure that oxygen is at the bottom of the lake. This insures the enzymes can be effective at digesting the muck.
Please let me know if you have any additional questions.
April 12, 2019 at 1:56 pm
Side note, if you go under the water quality tab on this site, you can see a link for Lake Savor updates. They have a picture taken from fall of 2018 that has the GPS marked spots of each diffuser in the lake. This will give you a pretty accurate picture of how many and where they are placed. FYI
May 26, 2019 at 9:59 am
Hi Ryan – have the balance of the shallow diffusers been placed in Zone 1 as of yet? We saw guys in a boat moving some hoses around weeks ago, but I don’t think they placed any new units in the water. Can you please advise? (I am asking about Zone 1 – not 2). Thanks! Monika
April 6, 2019 at 4:51 pm
For some reason, the bubbles stopped on middle part of lake, at the sand bar.
April 8, 2019 at 10:52 am
Hi Ray,
This has been addressed. With the quick spike in temperature this weekend, it caused the heat to rise inside the compressor compartments. In order to protect the compressor each one is equipped with a special safety switch to turn off if the heat is too hot inside them. These weren’t adjusted initially as it was 32 degrees when they turned them on and was an after thought at the time. However, they have now all been dialed in.
This is all part of working out the kinks of a LARGE system in the first couple of days. I am sure we will have a few more hurdles to jump as we continue to learn and work with this new system. I thank everyone for your patience as we get them all ironed out, and for letting us know when an issue comes up.
Thanks,
Ryan
April 8, 2019 at 2:36 pm
Thank you for the fast response.
April 8, 2019 at 6:51 pm
Fyi, the compressor/bubblers shut down today at 4:00 pm in middle Duck. I am not concerned, this is just meant to be a fyi in case this situation has not been reported.
Again, thanks for the great work the board is doing!
April 8, 2019 at 2:38 pm
Thank you for the fast response, Ryan.
April 5, 2019 at 6:27 pm
Has anyone else noticed how quickly the lake level has fallen? A good 6” at my shore line in the last 10 days. When do we put in the board to start saving water?
Karl Reel
April 2, 2019 at 6:13 pm
On Middle Duck I see numerous places that the water is “boiling” due to the bubble system. I can see my money put “into action”.
First, I hope that all of those that worked so hard, will stop and take a moment to enjoy their success. My thanks to all of you.
Second. I haven’t taken the time to go back and review the initial proposal. But for some reason, I thought that a) the bubbles would be along the entire hose to digest all the muck along the hoses’ path, and b) we wouldn’t see the bubble effect on the waters surface?
These ares not criticisms, just my ignorance showing. Could you please briefly explain the reason for the spot bubbles vs the entire length of the hose?
Thank you.
April 3, 2019 at 10:07 am
Hello Hank,
Thank you very much for the kind words and yes, it is finally nice to see the hard work and money put into action. I will try to be brief in the explanation and I hope this addresses your questions above….
A- The bubbles in the system will only come out of diffuser plates that are placed all around the lake. We have 170 different plates located throughout the whole lake. The air line that is ran to these plates is just a heavy rubber hose, similar to a garden hose, but heavier and thicker to prevent cuts and snags. The reason that air only comes out of the diffusers instead of having a hose similar to a “soaking” hose is for a couple of different reasons. First, it allows that pressure to be regulated to insure the right amount of oxygen is put into the lake. Second, it insures that the air is above the muck and not stuck down inside of the muck which would happen as the hose self settles into the muck. It also prevents any of the muck itself being stirred around from the air bubbles themselves. The diffuser plates make a cyclone like air bubble pattern just a few inches ABOVE the muck. This allows the full body of water to have oxygen put into it without stirring up the muck. The air from the system is to add oxygen at every level and throughout the whole body of water. The oxygen in the water will then allow the natural enzymes ( as well as the additional bioaugmentation we are going to add) to effetely start digesting the muck and breaking down the other organic material on the bottom of the lake.
B- As the system has over 170 diffuser plates controlled by 7 different compressors, all fed by 25 miles of hose, you can imagine that the pressure for each hose run and diffuser plate will be different. Ever Blue (a Lake Savors company) will be out on the lake starting tomorrow to physically inspect each plate to make sure that it is seated on the bottom correctly and that it has the correct pressure going to it. The air pressure can be control at two different locations, the manifold and the compressor itself. If the plate landed sideways in the muck when installed the air pattern could be different causing the “boil” look you see. Also, if a line is cut or damaged you could see a water ‘boil” as well. Last if the pressure to a short run is to high, or pressure to a long run is to low, this can effect the air pattern as well. Long and short, when the system is up and running and dialed in, you should only be able to notice the diffuser locations on calm days.
A lot of what is explained above, and a lot more, will be addressed at this months April meeting on the 17th. Jeff Conner’s will be there to review all of the different things to expect. Everything from what to keep an eye out for, places to avoid dragging your prop, and what to do if you hook the line with an anchor. There is also a big front page article in this months newsletter that highlights a lot of best practices. You should see this in your mailbox in a few days.
I hope this addresses the questions above, and please let us know if you have any others. As mentioned this is a very exciting time, and I am excited for the 2019 season to begin.
April 3, 2019 at 7:48 pm
I feel that, you and your team are spot on. Thanks for this clear answer. I trust you are doing the correct “thing” for our lake. Thanks for giving up your personal family time to make our lake a much better, long term success. Hank D.
March 19, 2019 at 3:33 pm
When is this New Special MUCK EATING Contraption going to go LIVE? Do we have a Money Back Guarantee? How long until we see results?
Why Wednesday’s for meetings? Shouldn’t you rotate the days?
Aquaweed…. They always pick the nicest days to spray and with the limited Summer we get, shouldn’t they pick different days….
NOW THAT U HAVE MY TAXES INCREASED, I’M GOING TO PAY MORE ATTENTION…. I TRUST NO ONE…
GOOD DAY
March 19, 2019 at 4:09 pm
Air will start flowing again on 4/1/19 assuming the ice is gone from the lake (MQED requirement). Most of the system was tested last fall. Muck eating enzymes won’t be added to the water until the water warms sufficiently and the water column is appropriately aerated.
No guarantees but based on the homework done by the Muck Committee and the recommendation of Restorative Lake Sciences, this is the best option to address our situation on Duck Lake.
Results – depends on how closely you look. The enzymes will start eating organic material as soon as they settle to the bottom. Other lakes with similar systems have seen noticeable improvement after the first season.
The monthly trustee meetings are scheduled on the third Wednesday of each month to maintain consistency. Most people find it easier to schedule around if it’s always the same day.
The weed killer application needs to be done on a relatively calm day so the chemicals will sink to the weed bed. We generally work with Aquaweed so the application doesn’t interfere with holidays and weekends.
March 20, 2019 at 1:10 pm
Thanks for the response… Maybe Danny can show me the way to become Better at paying attention and Better at helping out…
March 22, 2019 at 8:40 am
Thanks for the great professional response (not easy to do sometimes)
March 28, 2019 at 9:44 am
Professionalism is over rated…..
April 2, 2019 at 8:41 am
The air is flowing here on Little Duck.
March 19, 2019 at 10:33 pm
Glad you are paying attention to the lake now though one who lives on it should be paying attention and helping out all along. If the lake goes, so does your property value. Can we trust you??
March 20, 2019 at 1:07 pm
Danny, Your the Best…. I appreciate your response and hope to meet you in person soon….
March 20, 2019 at 1:16 pm
Yes. In the old days only a hand full of people would show up to meetings. Now we got more showing up and getting involved. The lake is our back yard and needs attention. If we didn’t act soon, the lake would become a swamp.
March 22, 2019 at 8:41 am
Thanks for the great professional response (not easy to do sometimes)
March 28, 2019 at 9:45 am
Thanks for the obvious BRUCE….
January 1, 2019 at 12:13 pm
Happy New Year
December 25, 2018 at 9:26 pm
Merry Christmas to all!!!
December 15, 2018 at 9:36 am
Please keep the bubbles on for as long as possible. Saving the lake is priority. Thank you.
December 15, 2018 at 10:37 am
The DEQ requires them to be off from December 1st until April 1st. They will all be on in the spring.
December 15, 2018 at 10:48 am
Hi Jenna,
Why I love the enthusiasm and the excitement to get this lake headed the other way, we by law have to keep the compressors off. They have to be turned off Nov. 30th and cannot be turned on until the ice has all melted, normally April 1st. As much as I would love to hit the fast forward button on reversing years of weed decay and muck build up, we all must remember that this will be a process. The good news is that in the spring of 2019 the system will be fully operational out of the gate. Then we can start with the bio-augmentation program to truly begin the rehab of Duck Lake.
I hope everyone has a safe and fun Holiday Season,
Ryan Charlton
December 15, 2018 at 9:21 am
Good morning,
It looks like the bubbles are still on. Do you know when they should be shut off? Our kids are anxious to play hockey but the bubbles are making it unsafe. Thanks so much
December 15, 2018 at 10:35 am
The aerators have not been on since December 1st. If you feel the ice is safe by you, happy skating!
December 15, 2018 at 10:36 am
Hi Dana,
I visited each site personally with Lake Savors last Wednesday to inspect the AWESOME job they have done. While we turned on the compressors to make sure they were functioning, and to listen to how quite they were, we disconnected each main airline BEFORE we turned them on to make sure we did not add any air to the lake for safety reasons. The compressors have all been off since Nov. 30th. However, they did turn a few on during the day for servicing and installation reasons. This has all been completed a few weeks ago. The compressors will not be back on until spring of 2019.
Now, if we can just get mother nature to make its mind up and stay cold enough for long enough to get a good thick ice, we should all be playing on the ice soon enough.
Please feel free to call directly if you have any other questions or concerns,
Thanks,
Ryan Charlton
December 15, 2018 at 11:37 am
Thanks for the update Ryan! Must just be a thin spot from them being on before. I’m sure it will thicken up quickly. Thanks again. Happy holidays!
November 22, 2018 at 10:45 am
Hello, I had noticed the compressors are running and the water is bubbling in the canals off of middle duck. Will they be running throughout the winter? Or are they going to be shut off to allow for ice coverage so people can enjoy hard water activities. Thank you.
November 22, 2018 at 10:52 am
Never mind, sorry for the question
I had read in the 10/17 minutes the bubbles will be shut off on 11/30 then turned back on 4/1.