Catfish Dive in to Save Communities from Foul Fetid Foreclosed Pools
Florida and other places in America wrecked by foreclosures are facing the problem of treating abandoned pools left behind in vacant foreclosed houses. The pools have become stagnant choked with algae. It is resulting in breeding of mosquitoes and other disease spreading insects.
The code enforcement officials in Wellington were one of the first to experiment with a certain type of fish named pleco. In appearance they look like catfish. They are adept at feasting on algae and in the process clearing pools. This has led to booming business for Bartow fish farmer David Hoy. He has teamed with the aquaculture department of University of Florida to make a success of the project of cleaning pools with these janitor fish.
Initially a limited number of fish of a certain size are used. Hoy explained, “You don’t want to get too many fish in there, because when they purge, they’ll just create another mess. We don’t want that. With just 15, the waste will dissipate in the water. It eventually breaks down in a natural bacterial process and goes away.”
It takes a minimum of 6 weeks for the fish to clear the first lot of algae. The success has led officials in Wellington to phase out projects that used chemicals to clean the pools. It had other harmful side effects apart from being less effective. Rose Taliau of Wellington’s code enforcement department said, “It’s evident to us that these fish will control the algae and make the odor go away. And once we put the fish in, that’s it. We just periodically check on them to make sure everything is going well, but we’re not out there putting chemicals in every other week.”
The fish are kept in the pools until the property changes hands. It does not require any regular maintenance cost. Hoy charges an initial fee ranging from $500 to $1,000 depending on the number of pools he has to tackle at one time. The fee is inclusive of time spent in commuting and expenses of staying in Palm Beach County. The fees would be less for destinations nearer to his base. Talking about his work Hoy said, “I just take the fish down there, let them loose, and they do the rest.”
The word about Hoy’s project is spreading and has reached the ears of Polk County’s officials. Here the numbers of abandoned swimming pools have doubled in the previous two years.
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