Zebra Mussels Cancel The title field is required!

1. Dennis Cook

   

   1 posts
   
   4/12/2012 6:04 AM

   Fired up my irrigation system after a very mild winter. Our water source has always been Lake Michigan which is full of zebra mussels. I would have the occasional zebra mussel shells in a few screens over the years, but nothing major. This year at least 50% of my heads are plugged in the swing joint, right at the rock screen. Have to pull the rotors, valves and rock screen then flush. The mussels that are coming out are whole and alive, which leads me to believe they grew in the pipes over the winter. Maybe in the low areas where the water may settle after blowing the system out. Im making very slow progress getting them all flushed, but we are getting there. We are looking for ways to alleviate this situation in future years. Once up and running they are not too much of a problem. Any ideas?

   
   
   
   
2. Rosenthal Gregg

   
   4/12/2012 8:04 AM

   Dennis,
   
   A very difficult problem you have, as my degree in marine biology and experience in Chesapeake bay marine biology tells me, shelled creatures like mussels and clams in the very early stages of development do not yet have a shell as they are moving into a place to become attached to. Once they become attached to a shell or rocks, plastic in your case they beginning to become shelled as they develop into the adult mussel. No screens or physical method will keep them out of your system. I would try to find out from Michigan State or Michigan U when they are in the reproduction stage in the lake in your area and at they time try not to be pulling water into your system. In fact it may be the best method to try to push water out of your system to keep the newly formed micro-mussels out of you system if possible. It may seems backward but may be the only way to keep the micro- organisms out before they become mussels inside your system. My friend Ken Ingram at U of Maryland may also be able to put you onto some other good ideas from the Chesapeake Bay side of similar issues....I am sure it is no fun cleaning shellfish out of your sprinklers!!!!
   
   Gregg
   Even if they were to taste good steamed......

   
   
   
   
3. Dennis Cook

   

   1 posts
   
   4/12/2012 12:04 PM

   Thanks Gregg, i anxiously await that info. im pretty confident that once im up and running on a regular basis the establishment will be a lot harder for them. My thoughts were that because the winter was so mild and the ground never really froze, that it gave them an environment to thrive in. I have read about a bacterial product that kills about 98% of them and does not harm any plant life, but im still learning about it and whether it would work if i put it in my pond in the fall and ran some into the system before blow out. Isn't great how our jobs are constantly evolving into all sorts of avenues?

   
   
   
   
4. David Cours

   

   0 posts
   
   4/13/2012 12:04 PM

   Dennis
   
   At a past course we used an injector to inject pool chlorine into the lines. It takes very little chlorine to stop the growth of zebra mussels and it is well below the level that will harm turf.
   
   Dave Cours

   
   
   
   
5. Michael Rogers

   

   2 posts
   
   4/13/2012 4:04 PM

   Hello Dennis, Check out Calgon. While doing some research a few years back I stumbled on an article. After a quick Google search, there are recent articles about polymers, carbon products etc for zebra mussels in the Great Lakes with Calgon.
   They treat cooling towers and ballast water on large scales for industries that affect the entire ecosystem of the Great Lakes. They may have a reasonable, environmentally friendly, and reasonably priced solution for you irrigation system.
   
   Good luck Michael
   
   Michael Rogers
   Down to EARTH Water Management ( Soil Solutions )
   Director of Golf Operations
   Marbella Golf & Country Club

   
   
   
   
6. Brad Marcy

   

   0 posts
   
   9/17/2013 10:09 AM

   I have been having problems lately with hose nozzles clogging up frequently. I am starting to get screens on heads so clogged up that they will not come up. The material that they are clogged with are very small soft opaque shells almost translucent. We are currently trying to flush out lines as much as possible. I am concerned that it could be the start of a Zebra Mussel infestation.
   This is a new issue to me. I know that I will need to make sure that the water is more acidic in the pipes so that it is a more inhospitable environment for them. Any advice from anyone out there who has dealt with them before?

   
   
   
   
7. Clay Putnam

   

   33 posts
   
   9/17/2013 4:09 PM

   Brad,
   
   We dealt with Zebra mussels for years. We injected chlorine into the wet well for years. It worked so-so. The chlorine injector turned on with the pumps and was designed to kill the larvae. The problem was there was plenty of opportunity for the larvae to get a foothold when the pumps were not running. As such, a large population of mussels thrived within our intake line and the wet well. Eventually the mussels within the intake line and wet well would break loose and get sucked into the irrigation system resulting in clogged heads and pipe.
   
   This particular golf course is very large with a lot of irrigation, over 3,000 heads. We had two full time staffers that did nothing but spin heads off the swing joints and blow out clogged pipes. We eventually installed two 300 micro TeKleen filters that filters out approximately 90%-95% of the shells and all but eliminated the labor necessary to clean heads.
   
   There are several filter options from super expensive to more reasonably priced. We went with the more reasonably price route and I would say we got our money's worth, a solid B grade. The TeKleen filters require maintenance but the cost/benefit was worth it in my opinion.

   
   
   
   
8. Jeffre Vercautren

   

   0 posts
   
   3/4/2014 10:03 AM

   Check with a company Growing Solutions. They have a product.