Bubble curtains activated to fight algae in Cape Coral

Just the sight of it can give you an upset stomach, and it may be sitting in your backyard. But now a way to fight blue green algae is back in action in Cape Coral.

At Horton Park, the work has already started.

The bubbles kind of look like Cape Coral put jacuzzi jets in, but these bubbles strategically placed between the Caloosahatchee and the canal waterways deflect algae from entering the canals.

In Cape Coral, 400 miles of freshwater and saltwater canals water front living isn’t hard to come by.

But there’s a price to pay for the view. When the conditions are right, your can can end up buried under a carpet of blue green algae.

“The smell hit you before even saw what the canal look like. I mean, it almost made you want to gag,” said homeowner Anthony Karp.

Karp remembers the blue green algae disaster of 2018.

“It was practically all covered back here with like the stuff in it, and then I found out it was throughout all the canals right off of the Caloosahatchee river here,” Karp said.

But the city has a trick up its sleeve to stop algae in the river from infiltrating the canals bubbles. Cape Coral installed 10 bubble curtains in areas where the waterways meet the Caloosahatchee.
Diffuser plates at the bottom of the canal produce this wall of bubbles hopefully stopping toxic algae from getting in.

“It’ll be a nice relief for all of us, so when the stuff does come down the river, it won’t be entering the canals and we’re going to be okay,” Karp said.

There are plans to add more curtains south of Cape Coral bridge where Cape Coral waterways meet the Caloosahatchee, Redfish Point, and Glover Bright.