waterway maintenance – Aquarius-Systems

Aquatic Weed Harvesting Safety & Maintenance Seminar 2025

Tue, 08 Apr 2025 14:52:13 +0000

Safety & Maintenance Seminar
Friday, May 16, 2025
Registration Opens 8:00 a.m.; Seminar 8:30 – 3 p.m.
Village of North Prairie Community Center Hall

Safety Training; Chad Lese, Aquarius Systems
Equipment Maintenance; Chad Lese, Aquarius Systems
Aquatic Plant Identification; Arthur Watkinson, WI DNR
WY-20-23 Update; Madi Johansen, WI DNR
Case Study; Dakota Koepp, Lake Pewaukee Sanitary District

$75 per person; includes registration, continental breakfast, lunch & supplies
PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED

DUE DATE: Please return registration forms and full payment no later than May 1st, 2025
MAIL TO: Aquarius Systems, PO Box 215, North Prairie WI 53153-0215 or FAX TO: 262-392-2984
PHONE: 262-392-2162 EMAIL: dawnk@aquarius-systems.com

White River Harvesting Restores Flow and Waterway Health

Tue, 02 Apr 2024 21:32:44 +0000

The Friends of the White River in Wisconsin saw their 2013 weed harvest get off to a good start on Wednesday, June 26.

The harvester and operators were on lease from the White River Flowage Lake Management District. The harvester, by the end of work on June 27, harvested an estimated 50,000 pounds of aquatic vegetation currently choking out the waterway.

A very positive impact on the millpond can be seen from the Highway 73 bridge. The channels cut are extremely obvious and show what a clean body of water can look like. A healthy millpond remains the focus of most Friends members. If the millpond is not maintained, impacts on other parts of the White River will be noticed in years to come.

Aquarius Harvester Still Performing Decades Later on Fox River

Wed, 20 Dec 2023 22:08:29 +0000

Waukesha Freeman, July 6, 2011 – Workers from Midwest Aquatics unload cut weeds from a mechanical harvester in the Fox River off of Frame Park on Tuesday. Aquatic weeds are cut, then taken from the water on a conveyor, then transfered to a second boat and removed.

This 1990 Aquarius Systems HM-320 Aquatic Plant Harvester is still running strong, a testament to the craftmanship!

Aquarius Harvesters Support Hydropower in Malawi

Tue, 19 Dec 2023 21:18:51 +0000

Nearly 95% of Malawi’s power is generated by hydropower on the Shire River, but sedimentation and weed infestation hinder efficiency. Today Millennium Challenge Corp Principal Deputy Vice President Kyeh Kim joined U.S. Embassy Lilongwe Ambassador Virginia Palmer to celebrate the commissioning and hand-over of two new weed harvesters by MCA-Malawi to the Electricity Generation Company Malawi Limited. These harvesters, manufactured and supplied by Aquarius Systems in Wisconsin, will help to improve the generation capacity of Malawi’s hydro-power plants.

Aquarius Harvester Improves Safety at Juneau Airport Pond

Mon, 18 Dec 2023 18:41:55 +0000

In the fight against weeds growing the airport’s pond used by floatplanes, the weeds came out on top in previous years. However, their new weapon; which isn’t new at all, but 20 years old, seems to be winning the war on weeds.

Juneau, Alaska, airport manager, Dave Palmer said staff tried herbicide and various other items to rid the pond on aquatic weeds, but to no avail. The weeds can get tangled in the steering controls of the float planes and they also attract unwanted water fowl near the aircrafts. Both can result in serious accidents. However, the 20 year old Aquarius Systems aquatic plant harvester seems to be working far better than previous year’s efforts to eradicate the weeds in the pond.

Mechanical Methods for Aquatic Plant Control Explained

Fri, 17 Nov 2023 16:00:32 +0000

Mechanical control methods involve the complete or partial removal of plants by mechanical means, including: harvesting, shredding, mowing, rototilling, rotovating, and chaining. These management techniques for plants rarely result in localized eradication of the species, but rather, reduce target plant abundance to non-nuisance levels.

Mechanical Harvesting – A mechanical aquatic harvester (harvester) is a type of barge used for a variety of tasks, including aquatic plant management and trash removal in rivers, lakes, bays, and harbors. Harvesters are designed to collect and unload vegetation and debris using a conveyor system on a boom, adjustable to the appropriate cutting height, up to 6 feet below the surface of the water.

Shredding – Swamp Devils and Cookie cutters are small barges designed to shred aquatic weeds, equipped with engine-powered, front-mounted blades. The cookie cutter was developed to address emergent aquatic vegetation and floating islands of vegetation and sediment, and to cut openings in shoreline and wetland areas through emergent wetland plants (USACE).

Mechanical Control Methods – USACE

New Harvester Boosts Weed Removal on Ross River

Thu, 01 Jun 2023 14:46:55 +0000

Weeds on the Ross River have a new predator in town as Council launches its brand new 6.5 tonne weed harvester to combat invasive species in the waterway.

The aquatic weed harvester arrived in Townsville, Queensland, Australia from Aquarius Systems in the United States to replace Council’s older retiring harvester. The new model includes stainless steel fittings, a quieter engine, and the capacity to complete in one hour what the old harvester could do in one day.

“The harvester is an essential piece of equipment to remove invasive species like salvinia, water hyacinth and cabomba, which are native to the Americas,” Cr Molachino said.