{"id":7325,"date":"2022-12-02T14:00:38","date_gmt":"2022-12-02T14:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aquaread.com\/blog\/?p=7325"},"modified":"2022-12-02T14:02:53","modified_gmt":"2022-12-02T14:02:53","slug":"blue-green-algae-causes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aquaread.com\/blog\/blue-green-algae-causes\/","title":{"rendered":"What Causes Blue-Green Algae? &#038; How to Identify It"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">If you\u2019ve ever seen a lake or pond covered in what looks like a green sludge, you\u2019ve probably seen blue-green algae. The \u2018scum\u2019, or mats of algae, can be quite alarming in colour, sometimes bright green and other times with a blue or darker tinge.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">This common phenomenon says a lot about the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aquaread.com\/products\/water-quality\"><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">health of a body of water<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">, and it can produce toxins. When there\u2019s too much blue-green algae, the water and all of its organisms become unhealthy. The worst-case scenarios see lakes and rivers essentially suffocated by BGA altogether.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">So it\u2019s important that we know, then, what actually causes this algae to form. And how do you identify it for certain?<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The causes of blue-green algae<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">It\u2019s important to specify that algae and BGA aren\u2019t inherently bad for water and wildlife. They are, after all, naturally-occurring phenomena. But certain conditions (including unnatural ones created by human activity) can lead to an <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">excess<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\"> of BGA \u2014 we call these \u2018blooms\u2019. And it\u2019s these blooms that can impact the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aquaread.com\/blog\/the-significance-of-clean-water\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">health of inland waters<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">The algae are caused by a type of bacteria called cyanobacteria, which are made up of single-celled species and other species with cells made up of colonies and filaments.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">These cyanobacteria thrive in warm, nutrient-rich water \u2014 and if there\u2019s an excess of nutrients, harmful algal blooms can form. The most common causes of excessive nutrient levels are:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 300;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">Wastewater (sewage, storm overflow)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 300;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aquaread.com\/blog\/impacts-of-industrial-waste\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">Industrial waste<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 300;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aquaread.com\/blog\/how-does-urban-runoff-affect-water-quality\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">Urban runoff<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 300;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aquaread.com\/blog\/are-agricultural-chemicals-affecting-our-water\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">Agricultural runoff\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-7327\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aquaread.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/goose-in-murky-water.jpeg\" alt=\"A Canada goose floats in murky, shallow, polluted water.\" width=\"846\" height=\"562\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">Each of these <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aquaread.com\/blog\/pollution-in-uk-rivers\/\">pollutants<\/a> can lead to a huge amount of nitrogen and phosphorus entering water bodies across the UK, whether intentionally dumped there or otherwise.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">The process of eutrophication is then kick-started, whereby the mats of algae starve the other plants of wildlife and nutrients and, eventually, the plants decompose and produce carbon dioxide. In turn, the pH of the water is lowered and it essentially becomes unlivable.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Identifying BGA<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">As we mentioned earlier, blue-green algae <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">can<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\"> be rather easy to spot, often creating a floating mat or scum on the surface of the water. They can also cause the water to have a paint-like appearance, and the water may be green, blue-green, white, yellow, brown, red, or even purple.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">But you might not always be able to spot BGA on the surface \u2014 sometimes they grow on rocks or at the bottom of a waterbody.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">So, you may be able to have a pretty good guess at what is and isn\u2019t BGA by looking at them (if they\u2019re visible, that is), but monitoring equipment is necessary to gauge the extent of growth and their effect on water.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Blue-green algae testing equipment<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">Because of their potentially harmful effects on livestock, wildlife, and humans, monitoring the levels of BGA in water is crucial.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">Fortunately, options are available for seamless testing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">Here at Aquaread, we offer two different forms of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aquaread.com\/sensors\/blue-green-algae\"><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">BGA sensors<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\"> \u2013 one that measures phycoerythrin (salt water-PE) and one that measures phycocyanin (freshwater-PC). These are the two protein complexes that exist within the algae.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">The sensors work by exciting these proteins at a fixed wavelength, and then measuring the fluorescence emitted as a result.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">If you\u2019d like to learn more about the variety of parameters you can test for with Aquaread, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aquaread.com\/sensors\"><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">view our sensors page here<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019ve ever seen a lake or pond covered in what looks like a green sludge, you\u2019ve probably seen blue-green algae. The \u2018scum\u2019, or mats of algae, can be quite alarming in colour, sometimes bright<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":7326,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.13 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What Causes Blue Green Algae? &amp; How to Identify It \u2013 Aquaread<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Blue green algae can cause algal blooms that produce toxins harmful to wildlife. To find out more about what causes BGA and how to spot it, read on.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aquaread.com\/blog\/blue-green-algae-causes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Causes Blue Green Algae? &amp; How to Identify It \u2013 Aquaread\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Blue green algae can cause algal blooms that produce toxins harmful to wildlife. To find out more about what causes BGA and how to spot it, read on.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aquaread.com\/blog\/blue-green-algae-causes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Aquaread\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Aquaread\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-12-02T14:00:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-12-02T14:02:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aquaread.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/blue-green-algae-shore.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"667\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"chris.peacock\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Aquaread\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Aquaread\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"chris.peacock\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aquaread.com\/blog\/blue-green-algae-causes\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aquaread.com\/blog\/blue-green-algae-causes\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"chris.peacock\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aquaread.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/81a84d21c21a3dc7b1780b4df9d23a48\"},\"headline\":\"What Causes Blue-Green Algae? &#038; How to Identify It\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-12-02T14:00:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-12-02T14:02:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aquaread.com\/blog\/blue-green-algae-causes\/\"},\"wordCount\":553,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aquaread.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Blog\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aquaread.com\/blog\/blue-green-algae-causes\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aquaread.com\/blog\/blue-green-algae-causes\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aquaread.com\/blog\/blue-green-algae-causes\/\",\"name\":\"What Causes Blue Green Algae? & How to Identify It \u2013 Aquaread\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aquaread.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-12-02T14:00:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-12-02T14:02:53+00:00\",\"description\":\"Blue green algae can cause algal blooms that produce toxins harmful to wildlife. 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