For a spectacular amusement park, you quickly end up at Walibi Holland in Biddinghuizen. The park for intense adrenaline lovers, who can go wild in many attractions! Fun for everyone, there are plenty of attractions where you can take it easy.
On the map of Walibi Holland you see water everywhere, which is part of various water attractions in the park. Jelle Cremer is team leader of technology at the park; water management is one of his duties, and maintenance is an important part of that. Where there is moving water, pumps run. And that’s what Jelle called us for. “Our installed fountain pumps need very regular maintenance because we have a lot of algae growth in certain ponds. These settle on the fountain pumps and suction baskets and disturb the fountain appearance, pumps even break down. Of course, the green water is also not a calling card for our park. If you can solve the algae problem and reduce the maintenance frequency of pumps, it will save us a lot of time and money, which we can put to good use for other things,” Jelle Cremer tells us.
Algae, naturally present in pond water
Ponds in general warm up quickly when the sun starts shining more again. Floating algae and other microorganisms multiply in the warm upper layer, a natural process that occurs everywhere in natural waters. Water is alive, vital, and algae are part of that.
However, algae explosions can occur if water is shallow and does not flow, causing the upper layer to heat up quickly. If there is also a high food supply due to dirt accumulation or elevated phosphate levels in the water, these are ideal conditions for microorganisms to multiply at lightning speed.
Algal blooms increase pump maintenance frequency
Back to Jelle Cremer’s issue. To properly assess the situation, our specialist visited the project, to get a practical understanding of the problem and be able to give the right advice. This is our working method, which is decisive for making an appropriate offer and a successful project!
These were 2 shallow ponds with standing water, the ideal situation for algae blooms as we explained in the box. Walibi asked us to supply 2 new fountains that require less maintenance than the existing ones.
Within our large range of fountain heads, we have several models that are more resistant to fouling and do not disturb the fountain appearance and select pumps with a better dirt passage. This solves part of the problem, the cleaning intervals can be brought down.
The choice fell on 2 foam jet fountains; robust water columns that mix oxygen with water and give a “white water jet” effect, which are visually very visible and also enrich the pond water with oxygen. The pump sets are lowered to fit shallow ponds. Customization is an obvious option that allows us to meet the needs of our customers.
Reduce pump maintenance frequency, but never omit it
Pumps are the silent force that keep water moving, however, maintenance is as natural as washing the car. Practice shows us, however, that preventive maintenance is performed little or not at all. Properly maintained pumps function better, consume less power and last much longer.
Moving water is the solution to combat explosive algae growth
Only with fountains does this not work. Stronger currents are needed to mix the warm water upper layer across the pond with the colder lower layer to control explosive algae growth. For that, FLOW mixers are ideally suited. For each pond, only one Flow 75 S mixer with a motor power of 0.75 kW was sufficient to achieve sufficient flow throughout the pond.
The FLOW mixers are placed on a concrete base for stable setup, with a custom frame for the shallow pond. The flow guide on the outlet side generates a straight and gentle water flow.
With the new fountains, which are more resistant to pollution and mixers that control algae growth, Walibi’s request has been fully met; reducing maintenance and improving water quality. Not a big investment for the park, it easily pays for itself, which is exactly what the park was looking for.
Mixers for ponds, ditches and storage basins
A homogeneous composition of water zones is fundamental to the health of the aquatic ecosystem. It ensures concentration of nutrients, oxygen and temperature, which is usually blocked (stratification) in the upper water layer, depending on the shape of the pond or basin.
Good circulation with FLOW mixers helps prevent dirt build-up and gas formation due to organic decomposition of soil debris and is cost-saving because less maintenance is required.