Ever been out on Sebago Lake and seen a bright yellow buoy floating on the surface near the Lower Bay? It just might have been the Sebago Lake Monitoring Buoy. This buoy serves a unique purpose and enables scientists to determine different characteristics of the water quality. It is monitored by and is the property of Portland Water District.
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| A buoy placed in Sebago Lake records and transmits data about water temperature, dissolved oxygen, water clarity, and levels of chlorophyll, a type of algae within the lake, and that information is posted directly to the Portland Water District website. SUBMITTED PHOTO |
This buoy was originally placed in Sebago Lake in 2018, when it was funded by the Water Resources Sustainability Research Grant from the University of Maine. The grant was offered for the research of water quality, undergraduate training, sustainable water resource management, and community health and safety.
All data transmitted from the buoy is studied and maintained by scientists associated with Portland Water District and researchers from Saint Joseph's College. These professionals check the data that is collected once a week to determine if the results are in a normal and expected range. It is visited by boat once a month to have the surface oxygen sensors cleaned, and to take duplicate readings using a hand-held probe.
The temperature data that is collected is taken from the surface to the bottom of the lake in 6-foot intervals. Dissolved oxygen data is collected from the surface and just above the bottom of the lake in Lower Bay.
“The dissolved oxygen readings tell us how fast bacteria are decomposing organic matter at the bottom of the lake,” said Nathan Whalen, Portland Water District’s Watershed Specialist. “This is a measure of lake health. We use the temperature data as an outreach and education tool for the people using Sebago Lake.”
The Sebago Lake monitoring buoy provides researchers with many important factors that determine the water’s quality. This is especially important for Maine residents living in Cumberland County that get their drinking water supply through the Portland Water District.
This buoy helps monitor and protect clean drinking water for the community by collecting data that shows researchers if the lake conditions are changing. By analyzing the information, the data can also be utilized to determine when and how the water treatment process needs to be adjusted.
Customers of Portland Water District who are living in Windham have meters at their property and pay water bills depending on how much water is used.
“It is less expensive to use water from a clean lake, rather than cleaning water from a polluted lake,” says Whalen.
As of right now, the quality of the water in Sebago Lake is healthy and the data indicates that there are no signs of it declining or negatively changing.
The monitoring buoy is consistently collecting data that helps determine the health and safety of Sebago Lake. During the winter months, the sensors are cleaned, and the buoy is removed and stored away until the lake unfreezes.
Currently, the buoy is no longer in the lake due to damage from a recent storm. Following repair, the buoy will be placed back in Sebago Lake.
While keeping Maine residents safe, the buoy also has a more significant role in global events and changes.
“If we keep the buoy going for a long time, it may provide information about climate change,” says Whalen.
By monitoring different water quality factors of the lake, the buoy provides scientists with data regarding current changes to quality, and information about long-term trends that may help determine how climate change is directly affecting lakes in Maine.
For more information, and to view current data, visit Portland Water District’s Sebago Lake Monitoring Buoy’s website https://www.pwd.org/sebago-lake-monitoring-buoy. <
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