Solar Power To Help Water Quality

By KRWG News

New Mexico – The U.S. Forest Service has installed solar-powered reservoir circulators to improve water quality in Quemado Lake.

The circulators pull colder, oxygen-deficient water up from the bottom of the lake and spread it along the lake surface. The cold water then falls back to the bottom of the lake, resulting in continual mixing of the water.

Forest officials plan to monitor water temperature, dissolved oxygen and the acidity or alkalinity levels to gauge the impact of the devices on water quality.

The devices, called Solar Bees, were paid for with the agency's fisheries habitat enhancement dollars.

Quemado Lake is one of three popular fishing lakes in the Gila National Forest.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.