A five-foot buoy weighing 700 pounds floats in Otisco Lake, New York, and while it may seem unusual to passing boaters, its purpose has nothing to do with leisure on the water.
Powered by the sun, the device is intended to help safeguard a key drinking water reservoir and, ideally, prevent worsening lake conditions from driving up costs for New York households.
Here’s what to know
According to NNY360, the Upstate Freshwater Institute placed the faded yellow buoy in Otisco Lake in June to measure conditions throughout the water column and send that information to Syracuse twice each day.
The effort centers on heavy nutrient loading that researchers say may be causing the reservoir to age faster than other Finger Lakes. When the quality of a drinking water source declines, utilities can end up paying more for treatment, oversight, and major repairs, with those added expenses eventually reaching customers…