Toxic blue-green algae killing dogs after swimming

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AndyTN

AndyTN

Bronze Supporter
Mar 27, 2019
463
Memphis
Pool Size
26000
Surface
Vinyl
Has anyone been following the recent stories about dogs dying after swimming in ponds a dog parks? News stories are pointing at a blue-green algae which the dogs are drinking while swimming and they get sick or even die within a couple hours. They just closed down the ponds at the huge dog park in Memphis after two dogs died and the rumors started spreading quickly about the algae. Too bad they can't just SLAM the ponds like we can with our pools.

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I’ve seen it. Some species of algae produce toxins. Humans can die from it too. Anatoxin-A and cyanotoxins are one type.

Not an issue in pools because - (a) chlorine is your friend, and (b) no one is silly enough to go swimming in a nasty green swamp pool .... ok, maybe not “no one” ....
 
Hypothetical scenario: what if I showed up with 30 gallon jugs of 10% bleach and put that into one of the ponds at the dog park with a sump pump circulating the water? Would that actually kill the algae or basically be a waste of time? I would estimate one of the ponds to be about five acres and average of 4 ft deep. I think I would end up with 700 dead bullfrogs. I'm just trying to SLAM and kill some algae. :)

Not that I would actually do this and I would probably have someone from the EPA show up in a black helicopter escorting me to a facility just shy of Guantanamo Bay. Kidding obviously but I took my dog to the same dog park 2 weeks ago to swim in the ponds and do that about once per month. She is fine without any sickness but I would love to use my TFP knowledge to help him clean this up.
 
duraleigh said:
That's over 6 million gallons.........I'm buying Clorox stock if you do this!
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Hahahaha but I have been told by TFP not to buy Clorox because of all the polymers in chloromax... you will be investing in the wrong company. I'm going to put 600 trichlor floaters in the pond with a big billboard sponsored by Leslie's Pools?
 
The water in those ponds needs to be closed off, treated with filtration, aeration and phosphate removers....I’m actually serious. In surface water treatment, phosphate control is an important step as is the removal of suspended solids. Algae blooms are contained by nutrient control and filtration. My guess is there is significant runoff in that park from the landscaping into the pond. Fertilizer exposure is the likely culprit. It’s up to the local municipality to fix the problem of an unsafe condition exists.
 
JoyfulNoise said:
The water in those ponds needs to be closed off, treated with filtration, aeration and phosphate removers....I’m actually serious. In surface water treatment, phosphate control is an important step as is the removal of suspended solids. Algae blooms are contained by nutrient control and filtration. My guess is there is significant runoff in that park from the landscaping into the pond. Fertilizer exposure is the likely culprit. It’s up to the local municipality to fix the problem of an unsafe condition exists.
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They definitely closed them down once two dogs died in the past week. They are having a chemist coming out to do extensive water samples. It is just sad because I was just there two weeks ago with my dog and would not have thought twice about letting her swim. Humans can see stuff floating on the water and know not to to get in there but lots of dogs just dive in and will drink the water like it's Gatorade.
 

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After lab results of the water samples and verifying with the vets of the two dead dogs, it turns out there was no toxic algae in the ponds and the dogs died from heat stroke. They are keeping the ponds at the dog park closed for a little while longer as a precaution since toxic algae cases have been confirmed in different areas of the South. Social media hysteria strikes again.

Thanks for the replies.
 
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