mcdude
07-16-2008, 06:32 PM
This summer the state Department of Environmental Services has unveiled a new weapon in its battle against the invasive aquatic plant milfoil.
The DAMM - Diver Assisted Milfoil Machine - is a double-pontoon raft the size of a swimming platform. It is the third generation of a gold-sluicing machine that sucks just enough water to collect weed pieces divers pull out of the underwater soil, but not enough to push the raft across the water.
"You basically have an underwater vacuum cleaner," said Mark Richardson of Divemaster's Diver Services, who worked with the department to design and build the system.
The underwater vacuum cleaner has taken three years to perfect. Meanwhile, its adversary - milfoil, a peaceful-enough looking plant so hearty it was once standard goldfish habitat - has grown stronger. It grew into a strong network in Concord's Turkey Pond and has all but taken over Captain's Pond, in Salem. It grew in 63 bodies of water in the state and became especially thick in Meredith, Moultonboro Bay and, perhaps most visibly, Gilford's Smith Bay.
From the Concord Monitor....see COMPLETE ARTICLE HERE (http://www.cmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080716/FRONTPAGE/807160303)
The DAMM - Diver Assisted Milfoil Machine - is a double-pontoon raft the size of a swimming platform. It is the third generation of a gold-sluicing machine that sucks just enough water to collect weed pieces divers pull out of the underwater soil, but not enough to push the raft across the water.
"You basically have an underwater vacuum cleaner," said Mark Richardson of Divemaster's Diver Services, who worked with the department to design and build the system.
The underwater vacuum cleaner has taken three years to perfect. Meanwhile, its adversary - milfoil, a peaceful-enough looking plant so hearty it was once standard goldfish habitat - has grown stronger. It grew into a strong network in Concord's Turkey Pond and has all but taken over Captain's Pond, in Salem. It grew in 63 bodies of water in the state and became especially thick in Meredith, Moultonboro Bay and, perhaps most visibly, Gilford's Smith Bay.
From the Concord Monitor....see COMPLETE ARTICLE HERE (http://www.cmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080716/FRONTPAGE/807160303)