Don’t P in your lake

OK, I borrowed that headline from a very clever campaign in Town of Meredith, New Hampshire. It’s a public education campaign to encourage people to help keep phosphorus (chemical symbol P) and pesticides out of local lakes. It’s also a good bit of advice to follow on your lake.

Phosphorus is a nutrient that in excessive amounts can cause algae blooms, which degrade water quality and in extreme cases may kill fish and lead to pileups of foul-smelling (and toxic) blue-green algae.

Phosphorus is found in some lawn fertilizers. Here in Wisconsin there are restrictions on the sale of such fertilizers; they definitely should not be used on lakefront properties. Runoff from lawns fertilized in this way will carry phosphorus into the water – along with traces of any weed killers and other pesticides that have been applied.

Another source of P (the phosphorus kind) is a faulty septic system that doesn’t adequately treat household wastewater and instead releases it to the environment. If you’re not maintaining your septic system regularly, you would be well advised to contact a local septic service provider and get on a regular program of inspection and pumping.

And since you must be wondering, yes, doing the other kind of “P” in the lake does add phosphorus. So for the good of your lake, don’t do it. There’s a reason why you have a septic system (or sewer connection). In our household we also take care to used phosphate free detergents and dish soaps. We have a new and properly functioning septic system, but why add more phosphate to the environment if we can easily avoid it?

OK, that’s your sermon for the week.