Should intake pipes always be near the bottom of lakes?

For polymictic and dimictic lakes, yes. Pipes near the bottom of polymictic lakes work very well due to the water quality being generally the same throughout the water column. This also allows the pipes to stay under water if the water levels drop. For dimictic lakes it’s also better to have the pipe near the … Continued

Transition zones are areas where the water body acts like both a river and a lake. This means that the water quality isn’t consistent so any readings gathered from that area may not accurately reflect the broader area around it.

A longer residence time means water spends more time in one place before moving along. That allows more time for contaminants to build up before being flushed out.

Let’s look at an example: Lake A is getting water from River B and we want to know the loading of rubber ducks into Lake A. The first thing you’ll need to find is the river discharge – how much water is flowing from River B into Lake A. Let’s say this is 1,000 L/m, … Continued