Over the years many types of aquatic weed control have been developed. Weed Growth needs to be controlled because of many factors – The biggest one being “water use”. Defining water use is tricky, each person has their own definition, like boating, swimming, fishing, and what about drinking water or cooling water for power plants. So we can agree that controlling aquatic plants that have become a nuisance is a good idea. How to go about it and why would you want to use a benthic barrier? The history of benthic barriers is long but unwritten, it’s been used for decades in some form or another to control lake weeds.

WHAT IS A BENTHIC BARRIER?

A benthic barrier is a piece of material (film, sheet) that lays on the Benthos layer of a lake or pond to keep sunlight from getting to the nutrient-rich soil on the lake bottom. The material is usually heavier than water which allows it to settle firmly on the lake’s bottom. But in most cases, additional weight is needed to keep the material in place. Gases of decomposition forming under the material can be a problem.

Benefits (Pros) of using a typical Benthic Barrier:

Barriers are highly effective when it comes to pinpoint accuracy. You can place Benthic barriers exactly where you want them and it will kill 100% of the weeds it covers. Benthic barriers are one of only a handful of ways that a homeowner can control weeds in their backyard. They are Non- Chemical and Reusable, and if maintained properly, they can last for years.

Cons of using typical benthic barriers:

Most benthic barriers on the market are far too heavy to install by one or even two people. They have a high cost per square foot in comparison to chemicals, so you won’t be using 2 or 3 acres of benthic barriers to heal your lake. They can also affect the organisms that live in the benthos layer of your lake by depleting the oxygen in the water under the barrier.

Why is Lake Bottom Blanket Different?

Simple since we designed the LBB to utilize all the good things a typical benthic barrier provides without most the Cons that give them a bad name.

  • Material is lighter than water, so it floats just off the benthos layer (no oxygen depletion)
  • An installation and removal system so there’s no guesswork
  • Reduced cost to own compared to others currently on the market (Comparison)
  • Installed in over 400 lakes all over the world
  • LBB is an easy system to make deploying the blanket simple

Why Choose Benthic Barriers?

Here are all the options a homeowner has to control weeds at their waterfront:

  • Do nothing and watch their waterfront disappear
  • Hand-pulling and hard labor has to be done by continuously Raking or “throw in” cutting tools – works, hard labor because you have to keep doing it $
  • Mechanical harvesting – high cost and can make a lake weed problem worse $$$
  • Dyes – if your water turnover is too high it will not work $
  • LBB Benthic Barriers – Easy to install, DIY, anyone can do it $
  • Hydro-dredging – Need a company to do it and very expensive $$$
  • Chemicals – Herbicides that kill weeds and who knows what else $$$
  • Dredging – Make lake deeper $$$$
  • Read the Weed Control Alternatives to get a better idea of how they work