Man-Made Floating Wetland

Lake Temescal

with

UC Berkeley & Engineers for a Sustainable World

Project Video

Watch to learn about our Project!

Man-Made Floating Wetland

UC Berkeley teaches us that we have the power to change anything for the better as long as we work hard enough, which is good, because we have a huge goal.

Every lake within a 50 mile radius of Berkeley has had at least one toxic algae bloom in the last year alone. Normal algae blooms are harmful enough, growing in thick mats on top of the water and depriving fish and plants of oxygen that they need to survive. This in turn creates huge dead-zones in the lake, where nothing can live.

Additionally, to make matters worse, these blooms can become spontaneously toxic and begin emitting a neurotoxin that is very harmful to humans and has even been fatal to three pet dogs in the area.

For Lake Temescal, the algae is especially detrimental as it is a huge community center, where thousands of families come each year to hike, swim, bike, picnic, fish, and enjoy being in nature. However, because of the algae, parts of the lake are forced to close multiple times a year, which takes away from this

natural community center.

Our Solution

Being Berkeley students, we wanted to change things for the better. Our goal is to build a Man-Made Wetland that will remove the excess nutrients in the water in two ways: from the plants that will grow on the wetland, and by a bacteria colony on the plant roots, called a "biofilm." These types of wetlands can also act as a great breeding ground and refuge for fish in the lake, helping strengthen fish populations. Our team consists of 10 students of all different years and majors, who are all concerned about the human impact on the environment and what we can do to remediate it. Through Engineers for a Sustainable World at Berkeley, we complete projects that bolster the local community in an environmentally conscious way.

Click here to visit the ESW Website

Biodegradable Materials

(Environmentally Friendly)

The wetland we will launch into the lake will be made of all natural products, such as a base of coconut coir fiber and cork, held together by bamboo and vegetable fiber string. This means that our wetland will be 100% biodegradable, and remain held together by the plant mass/roots that will also be cleansing the water. This makes our island slightly different (and we argue, better) than the many that are already successfully cleansing lakes all over the country! Many other wetlands use plastic and treated wood in their wetlands, which can be a source of even more pollution.

We have been working with the East Bay Regional Park District, and with their help we hope to begin building by the end of this semester, and be finished and ready to launch this wetland by the end of the summer! We want to start removing nutrients as fast as possible!