A contactor is completing work on a project to improve water circulation in Fountain Lake that the council first discussed last September and approved funding for early this year.

The upgrades to the circulation system are aimed at keeping the water moving to reduce warm weather odor problems from the water and reduce or eliminate the need for extra overnight run times for the Fountain.

Community Services Director Mark Mayer told the council and members of the Community Services Advisory Commission at a meeting April 17 that the contractor was wrapping up and, when final testing was complete, they would start the system within a week.

Mayer did warn that the initial start-up of the aerators could result in temporary odor problems as algae sediment is stirred up by the new equipment.

The upgrade to the circulation includes the addition of 16 new aeration diffusers plus 10 horizontal circulators. The new equipment nearly triples the capacity of the system to move water, and adds the dimension of horizontal movement to move water that may stagnate in the coves around the lake.

Mayer said the old system was capable of circulating all of the 100 million gallons of water in the lake over about seven days. The improved system will move all the water in 24 hours.

“We believe this will significantly improve the issues related to odors,” Mayer said. “It may resolve the problem completely.”

The new features will be activated slowly over the next few weeks to minimize the disruption to the lake bed and reduce the potential stirring of the sediment into the water. However, given the increased volume of water movement, some browning of the lake may arise during this initial phase. Odors may also occur during this transition.

The council chose to allocate about $200,000 to the project as a first step in addressing upgrades to the systems involved with the lake and fountain as well as park irrigation.

The council anticipates a need to upgrade electrical control systems for the fountain, which would significantly improve the efficiency and reduce wear and tear on the aging pump equipment.

The council may also have staff address an irrigation issue by creating a reservoir to hold irrigation water separate from the rest of the lake. This would improve water quality and thus expected to improve turf conditions in the park.

The control systems and the irrigation upgrades would each cost around $1 million or more and the town has yet to identify funding for the projects.