The before and after difference on this mucky Florida lake shocked me

I been running dredge jobs for about 8 years now and last month I pulled up before photos of a retention pond in Lakeland, Florida from 2019. The sediment was almost 4 feet deep in spots and the water looked like chocolate milk. After running a 12-inch cutterhead suction dredge for 3 straight weeks, the same spot had less than 6 inches of silt and the water clarity improved by over 80 percent. The difference was mostly because we switched to a slower swing speed with a more constant slurry flow, which kept the solids from settling back down mid-job. Has anyone else seen that big of a change just by adjusting swing rate?

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taylor.jessica3mo ago

Saw a similar thing on a pond in Georgia last year. We were running a 10-inch and just couldnt get the clarity to hold till we cut the swing speed by about 40 percent. That steady flow made all the difference. You ever try adding a small flocculant assist on the suction end for really stubborn colloids? Helps keep the fines from drifting right back into suspension while you're still working.

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amygonzalez3mo ago

Did you read about that polymer trick for binding fines?

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