Vol. 15—1961 - NorthEastern Weed Science Society

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f'inal retJuJ.t was that the use of sodium arsen.1,te was deemed
incompatible with the supplying of potable water; if not from
a 'chetnie:f,ll standpoint certainly from a standpoint of consumer
public relations •
. The water purveyor has a deep appreciation of the problems
of the lake owner and desires to work with him. Since it
is desira~le and necessary to maintain good public relations
with our neighbors on the watershed as well as our consumers
an attempt was made to gain additional information on other
chemicals available for control of aquatic weeds.
,The manufacturers supplied samples of various chemicals
so simple tastA and odor tests could be run. However, the
problem proved much larger and more time consuming than could
be handled individually. At this point the State Department
of Heal~h was requested to call a conference of the surface
water purveyors of the state, the chemical manufacturers and
any other interested parties in an attempt to establish a
united policy for all to follow. At the conclusion of an
afternoon or hearings acammittee was formed encompassing members
of each group to study the problems. It was felt that
more field work was desirable and necessary but this was
costly from a chemical standpoint.
However, an ideal situation presented itself. A lakeowner's
association applied to a water purveyor for permission
to trea't with Silvex two lakes which overflowed into a reservoir
for potable water. The State Department of Health was contacted
and after a series of conferences between the lakeowners,
the State Department of Health and the water purveyors,
it was decided to permit treatment of the upper lake with
2 p.p.m. of Silvex and use the lake as an experimental ground
to study the effects of thechemlcal on the quality of the
water. Samples were to be collected by the State Department
of Health, the interested water purveyors and the manufacturer's
representatives.
Aerial photographs to scale were obtained from the U. S.
Department of Agriculture and a survey of both lakes was ma.de
, to de,termine depths and accurately compute volumes. The upper
lake had a surface area of 57 acres and an average depth of
8..4 feet, much deeper than the average man-made lakes in N.J.
The weed most prevalent was water milf'oil.
The surface of' the lake was lowered one foot below the
spillway and this accomplished a number of purposes. First,
it lessened the volume of water to be treated thus effecting
a monetary saving to the lake owners by decreasing the amount
of chemical used. This, too, was beneficial from the water
purveyor's standpoint. Second, it prOVided a longer detention