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 
June 16, 2019 at 12:48 pm
Lake level update: The lake is now 4″ above the court set legal level. The dam has been running “wide open” since at least May 28. My rain gauge totaled 4.15 inches for May. So far with June only halfway gone, we already have received 4.27 inches of rain. I am ready for some hot dry weather folks!
June 12, 2019 at 5:52 pm
Does anyone know when the fireworks display for 4th of July presented by those couple of great lake front owners on “little duck” will occur during the 4th of July week? They are better than the White Lake display by 100%.
Also is there someway that we can contribute to the cost of their display?
June 12, 2019 at 9:40 am
Question: How often is the water tested for bacteria ? I am wondering if the water is safe to swim in this year. Even though I am keeping in mind that the water is being stirred up, it is looking worse than I have ever seen it. Thank you Kerry
June 12, 2019 at 10:27 pm
I agree with you Kerry.. water is not clear, with sediment all over the lake. Fishing slow.. hope this changes soon.
June 13, 2019 at 10:15 am
What I noticed for several weeks is a boat load of pollen and tree dropping clouding up my waters. Hopefully that is all it is and it will clear up soon.
June 16, 2019 at 1:02 pm
We have been told that the lake may get worse before it gets better. First, some of the aerators are located in deep very soft muck. Once the muck moves away from those aerators the murkiness should start to clear up. And once the oxygen level begins to increase, the lake may become clear to the point weeds may begin to grow in deeper areas of the lake than we have typically seen. Then as the combination of aeration and bioaugmentation start to take hold, the nutrients tied up in the muck will slowly start to be converted to more inert matter and the weeds will have less food to consume and they will start to decrease. In the meantime we will continue to chemically treat the weeds and algae as needed. Remember, as Ryan has said, this is a (5 year) marathon, not a sprint. We need to think long term not short term. No pain no gain.
June 18, 2019 at 11:16 pm
Thanks for the response. I wanted to find out if the water has been tested for bacteria. If so, how often and when was it last tested?
June 19, 2019 at 8:43 am
Sorry I presumed someone else might jump in here. Google can be your friend: https://www.oakgov.com/health/services/environmental-health/Pages/beaches.aspx The Axford Acres beach is the only Duck Lake beach on the list to be tested by the Oakland County Environmental Health Division. At this time there are no beach closures in Oakland County. They do not report numbers, only if it is safe for swimming or not.
From their website:
The Oakland County Health Division Beach Monitoring Program for 2019 begins on June 3rd and concludes August 9th. This year the County is monitoring 75 beaches on 59 different lakes.
The water collection and beach surveying are conducted by environmental health students hired by the County for summer internships. Water at each of the beaches is tested on a weekly basis, measuring for an indicator bacteria, E. Coli. As an indicator, if E. Coli is present, other, more harmful and harder to detect organisms could be present.
Monitored beaches are to meet the one day standard of 300 colonies per 100 milliliters of water AND the 30 day geometric average standard of 130 colonies per 100 milliliters. If a beach does not meet the water quality standard, it will be closed until satisfactory samples are obtained.
E. Coli is a bacteria found in the intestines of people and animals. It is not something normally found in existing lake sediments.
June 19, 2019 at 6:15 pm
Thank you for the quick responses.
Sent from my iPhone
>
June 4, 2019 at 3:23 pm
When is the lake going to be weed treated? I have weeds and algae in my shallows that I never had before? Plus, they have to wait two weeks after weed treatment to put the bacteria in. Since it is already the beginning of June it won’t be til the end of June at the earliest for the bacteria. Summer will be half over already.
June 5, 2019 at 11:05 am
Hi Danny,
Aqua Weed has already completed a couple weed treatments and they have plans to do more before July 4th. You are correct about the timing of the weed treatment and the bio blast. We have Jennifer, from Lake Restoration, monitoring all of the chemicals being applied in our lake to insure that we do not have any accidental cross over. The plan all along was to apply the bio augmentation in the beginning of June. However, due to the cold weather, as well as all the rain, this was pushed back a few weeks as we wanted Aqua Weed to be able to get in first, and we needed the water warm up. They were shooting for the end of June but didn’t want to interfere with the holiday, so we are now scheduled for July 8th-12th for our first major application. They will be applying 100,000-125,000 gallons (out of 200,000) that we have scheduled this year over a four day period. They will then monitor the results and plan on when to apply the remainder of the bio towards the end of summer.
Please remember a few things. The enzymes they are adding will be helping aid the natural enzymes that we already have in our lake. The oxygen in the lake is already helping our existing enzymes preform the decomposition of the muck. Also, the system will continue to run until November 30th. So if we look at it from the stand point that the system was turned on in April and will run until November, we have 8 months of run time. So adding the enzymes in the middle of that cycle insures we have the best conditions for them to be successful. This might seem “late”, as living on a lake we tend to measure all activities based around the boating and beach season, but we will still have oxygen pumping for another 5 full months. We have to look at this as a marathon and not a sprint. What we do this year will have a larger impact on next year and the year after. Also, we have to be aware that as we move forward we will hit obstacles we may not have predicted. Weeds may grow in new areas (temporarily) as we have improved the water conditions. Once we remove their soil (the muck) they too will disappear.
Please keep the questions coming as communication is an important part of this program. I run across many different questions and assumptions daily. It is important that we all try to make everyone aware of how the system works, and what we can expect. Just the other day we found a Facebook post that had a question asking what the bubbles were in Duck Lake, so it is safe to say that not everyone is fully aware of the program or the process. By making everyone aware, we can help insure that we get the best results for our efforts. We also need to make people aware so that we take care of our investment. We already have had two lines cut from boat propellers. One of them they had to drive through 2 buoys (which both are now missing) AND go through the lake bottom as the lines were buried in the sand. 99% of the airlines and diffusers are in places that are two deep to hit. However we have a few in shallow areas, that are marked with buoys, people should be aware of and take notice. These areas should not impede normal boating as the water is too shallow to run your motor in. However, if we find ourselves blown/drifted into these spots we need to take care to watch our props for the safety of your prop, as well as the safety of the system.
Sorry for the long response, and I hope I have answered you question. Hope to see you all on the lake soon.
June 5, 2019 at 1:58 pm
Thank you so much for the detailed response! Very informative.
May 30, 2019 at 11:04 am
Thank you for asking this question. I was also going to ask. Thanks also for the quick response to the question!
May 30, 2019 at 8:52 am
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).
From our home, all we can see are bubblers way off in the distance. Thanks.
June 3, 2019 at 12:30 pm
Hi Monika,
As of right now ALL diffusers and shallow water plates are in the water. However, we have noticed that due to “muck” issue, we have seen a few disappear. They do take a second to “settle” and if they are placed incorrectly, they could have dug themselves under the muck. This could be the case in your area, but I am not 100% sure. Also, please note that they may have made some slight variations to the drawing based upon physical inspection and installation to insure that we get the best results as soon as possible. Please remember, that they will be monitoring the dissolved oxygen levels all around the lake to make sure that all areas are saturated with oxygen. This will allow the enzymes that they will be placing in the water to break down the organic material. It is the this Bio-Augmentation that will reduce the muck, NOT the diffusers. We placed 170 diffusers for roughly 500 houses in the lake. It is not meant to be, nor does it need to be, a 1-1 application. It is also a living system that will constantly be changed and moved around as parts start to respond or not respond.
I hope this helps and please let me know if you have any other questions
May 28, 2019 at 11:17 pm
I was wondering if anyone could answer a question. Is one of the by products of the bubblers, silt?? It sure seems the water is murkier than normal and there is a layer of silt on the sand, dock steps, and my lift. I don’t remember ever seeing this heavy a level of silt in the lake. Just my observations, and observations of some of my neighbors.
May 30, 2019 at 8:17 am
Hi Dave,
Thank you for the quick note. In regards to the aeration system, this is not a side effect. As a matter of fact it is not allowed to do this. The DEQ monitors the water quality to insure that the aeration system in not “stirring” up the muck. Unfortunately this is just a side effect of many boats, a lot of them wake boats with deep drafts, stirring up the bottom that had settled all spring/winter. This is why it was so important to get this program implemented so that we can reduce the muck and lower the level so that boats will no longer be able to reach the bottom to stir this up. This in turn will greatly improve our water clarity.
Please let me know if I Can help with anything else, and please be safe out on the water,
Ryan
May 30, 2019 at 8:27 am
Thanks Ryan for the reply. I am in the far west part of the lake, under the Chevron Bridge.. Back here it is all no wake, so I am not sure it is from the wake boats, but we will continue to monitor what is going on. Thanks again. Dave
May 28, 2019 at 10:08 am
Hi Neighbors,
Does anyone know when the zoo will be up? Thanks
May 28, 2019 at 8:21 am
I was looking at the pdf file for Ramada diffuser placement and it shows 29 diffusers. Did they change the number and if so, why?
May 30, 2019 at 8:23 am
Hi Mark,
The did not change the count of diffusers placed into our lake upon installation. As a matter of fact they increased the amount at no additional cost to Duck Lake. They may have made some slight variations to the drawing based upon physical inspection and installation to insure that we get the best results as soon as possible. Please remember, that they will be monitoring the dissolved oxygen levels all around the lake to make sure that all areas are saturated with oxygen. This will allow the enzymes that they will be placing in the water to break down the organic material. It is the this Bio-Augmentation that will reduce the muck, NOT the diffusers. We placed 170 diffusers for roughly 500 houses in the lake. It is not meant to be, nor does it need to be, a 1-1 application. It is also a living system that will constantly be changed and moved around as parts start to respond or not respond.
I hope this helps and please let me know if you have any other questions,
Ryan
May 30, 2019 at 4:30 pm
Thanks for the reply Ryan. Very informative!
May 21, 2019 at 4:12 pm
Ramada Canal compressor is off.
May 21, 2019 at 8:35 pm
Everblue Lakes was on-site working on the compressor box and had it shut off. They’ve switched out temp sensors and reworked the cooling system.