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Photo #6:This lagoon SHOULD be purple!! |
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Photo #6:This lagoon SHOULD be purple!! |
An active, properly functioning lagoon is SUPPOSED to be purple! The purple comes from
purple sulfur bacteria. These bacteria
metabolize many compounds, including odorous ones. They prefer a
pH in the 7-7.8 range and to not be shocked by the addition of too many
disinfectants.
If a lagoon loses its purple color and turns dark, it may
be due to several reasons:
A special note:
This farm is located along the Onslow/Duplin County border. The photo
was taken on September 17, 1999...less than 48 hours AFTER hurricane
Floyd struck.
overloading (too small for the number of
animals)
too many disinfectants (these are used to
clean the swine houses between batches of animals)
mixing with sludge (too much sludge OR a
wind event stirred-up the sludge)
improper pH (if necessary, lime is added to
raise the pH or acid is added to lower the pH)
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