# removing muck from lake



## humalupa

My wife and I just purchased a lakefront cabin in Mason county. The lake has a mucky bottom, and we want to clean out some of the muck around our shoreline. I have seen lots of different items and methods advertised for this- but I was wondering if anyone has personal experience trying to clean up a lake bottom. Any help or item reviews is appreciated.


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## DecoySlayer

Here are a few resources. Keep in mind that the DNR/DEQ are VERY particular with what can, or cannot, be done.

http://www.vertexwaterfeatures.com/
https://www.scottaerator.com/
https://www.killlakeweeds.com/products/aquaclear-pellets?gclid=CPOrmKG5kc0CFRY7gQod7yUDXQ


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## MEL

I have a lake front home outside of Gaylord. We battles the muck for years. We mosly use a muck rake 
The neighbors have used a big muck sucker pump for years and years. Neither is perfect and both require a ton of your time. We prefer raking but when in deep water it dosent work well. Its good in shallower water 24" and less.
We rake the muck onto our beach and let the water run out, then remove the piles (the muck is a great 
Rich fertilizer) 

We also cut the weeds in front of our beach in the water as they can choke off water flow in and the weeds die and stay right there. As the dead weeds float in we rake them up and these also will rotand make great fertilizer.

All of this is a LOT of work. Add up all the things that must be done to the place and imostly go up there just to work on something. Always somethi g that needs fixing, cleaning, painting or repairing.
Spent 2 full days last weekend just fixing plumbing. Gotten to the point that I told her im ready to sell it.
Good luck. Hope you have a strong back and enjoy constant hard work.


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## MossyHorns

humalupa said:


> My wife and I just purchased a lakefront cabin in Mason county. The lake has a mucky bottom, and we want to clean out some of the muck around our shoreline. I have seen lots of different items and methods advertised for this- but I was wondering if anyone has personal experience trying to clean up a lake bottom. Any help or item reviews is appreciated.


How deep does the muck go? The muck/marl on our lake in Lake County goes at least 8' deep by our dock. You can push a 2x4 8' long straight down without much effort. You could lay a fabric layer over the much and then place sand on top of the fabric, but you will need approval from the DEQ/DNR for that.


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## Rasputin

Aeration sounds like a good solution. The science is still unproven, but appears promising. The idea is to get more oxygen into the water to promote aerobic bacteria, which then digest the muck.


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## humalupa

MossyHorns said:


> How deep does the muck go? The muck/marl on our lake in Lake County goes at least 8' deep by our dock. You can push a 2x4 8' long straight down without much effort. You could lay a fabric layer over the much and then place sand on top of the fabric, but you will need approval from the DEQ/DNR for that.


I really do not know. I do know that the previous owners had taken a backhoe and scraped out some old tree roots and such near the shore. When they did it they left the bottom very uneven and kind of dangerous to walk on right now. I would like to get the muck out so I can "level" out the bottom and make it a little safer for my kids to walk in. Right now there are some spots where you step and drop down 2 feet without seeing the dropoff.


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## Rasputin

You might try using a power washer under the surface to accomplish what you need for now.


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## ibthetrout

I have a friend that has some kind of contraption that swirls around pumping water straight down and kind of washes the muck out of the immediate area. Kind of like the power washer idea above only he just has to drop it in the water and turn it on.


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## CaseBones

Russ and his team are top notch. They looked at my place. My pond was too small for consideration (they would have sucked it dry). But this type of consultation might be worth your time.
http://www.sedimentremovalsolutions.com/contact.html


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## Dr Z

I successfully used a Honda diaphragm pump (https://powerequipment.honda.com/pumps/diaphragm-pumps) with about 500' of 3" fire hose to clean up a local area at my shoreline, and am now using a "muck blaster" (https://www.scottaerator.com/dock-mounted-aquasweep) to keep it clear. I had to remove a ton of lily pad roots as I worked, but my dock area went from 2' deep with tons of muck to about 8' deep and a hard bottom. I was fortunate enough to have property where I could put the muck while it dried out. If you don't, dewatering bags are available on amazon (https://www.amazon.com/UltraTech-97...527071518&sr=8-1&keywords=dewatering+bag&th=1), which is what Sediment Removal Solutions (post above) uses.

I don't recommend solutions that simply blast the muck away from your shoreline into the lake (e.g. pressure washers or the muck blaster mentioned earlier in my post) without removing the muck first. I've seen it done by others. It may make your shoreline slightly better, but it makes a mess for everyone else.


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## DecoySlayer

Be VERY careful when moving muck or working on lake bottoms, DEQ has a TON of regulations that must be followed. Some of them are good regs, others don't make much sense.


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## onenationhere

I struggle with muck every year, been fighting it since 2012 when we bought our cottage. Ours sat vacant and unkept for 6 years and the beach front was a gross mess. I've been blowing it out with my outboard but it's just a short term solution and I'm hesitant to continue because it's not good for the motor. And, if you have close neighbors you just end up blowing the debris into their beach, don't do that. That isn't an issue with us in that we have a large area so it doesn't blow onto theirs. 
I have seen pretty good results with a combination of raking and my outboard. You can see in the first photo that there is a nice sandy beach under all that gross crap. I continue to work at it pretty hard though every summer. Getting rid of vegetation like trees and bushes that will drop leaves into your beach area will help also, don't let the weeds die and rot on the bottom, get rid of any trees that overhang into your swim area. Last March I got rid of this big oak that hung over the beach. It looked cool and I was bummed to see it go but it caused a lot of problems and it adds to my muck problem every year. 
Im am buying a trash pump this summer and I'm going to hit it with that. I hope removing the tree and sucking it out with the pump I see positive results. If that doesn't work I'm hiring a pond company to come and take care of it.
















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## Aaron R

Check out Rigero if you're having a muck problem. Im experienced with the company and the work they do to get rid of muck without the use of chemicals is quite amazing. I can say for certain that you would be happy with the results. If you are interested and want to learn more you can also contact me.


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## zuren

Posting to subscribe. I live on a 1.75 acre private pond that I share with 2 neighbors (I technically own 2/3 of the pond) that is pretty nasty and have been actively researching solutions for the muck, algae, and weeds. We are caught in the bad cycle of applying chemicals to kill the algae, which sinks and becomes muck, which fuels the next bloom of algae. I may give Rigero a call. 

A neighbor up the road tried a setup with a trash pump and a gold dredge nosel to suck the muck off the bottom. It worked to clean up around his dock, but was too labor intensive and removed too much water to be a solution for a larger area.


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