Through SOLitude’s corporate volunteering and community outreach program, The SOLution, the company has named Customer Service Representative Becky Snyder of Shrewsbury, MA as Volunteer of the Quarter for the fourth quarter of 2019. Becky organized and participated in an array of volunteer events from October through December.

As a Volunteer Team Captain, Becky plays an active role in coordinating initiatives for SOLitude’s New England office. She coordinated the details of the company’s Little GOBBLERs efforts during Thanksgiving by identifying schools throughout the region that would benefit most from the donation of turkeys and grocery store gift cards. Likewise, she played a vital role in SOLitude’s HOLiday Cheer efforts by coordinating the collection of gifts for children at Shriner’s Hospital and those involved in the Toys for Tots program.

Industrial businesses can affect communities in very positive ways; however, there are exceptions. Certain business practices can have a negative environmental impact on our communities. This was the case for one Florida Keys community. Due to the actions of a nearby blasting company, 5-7 ft of their lake’s bank eroded away.

Luckily, SOLitude Lake Management specializes in the restoration of eroded shorelines to prevent water quality issues from reoccurring. There are many benefits to implementing erosion control solutions, including filtering hazardous runoff, repairing potholes in the dirt, and immediately reclaiming lost property. And what’s unique about our strategy is that we utilize a bioengineered living shoreline, which is a healthier and more effective alternative than previous industry standards like cement bags or concrete.

We applied these tools on our Florida Keys community. The first step in restoring their 1,850 ft shoreline involved removing floating mats of the invasive aquatic weeds growing 3-5 ft out around the entire shoreline. This included torpedograss, cattails, primrose and alligatorweed. Overgrown invasive species often indicate neglect and can inhibit the growth and prosperity of animals and plants in the native ecosystems.

SOLitude Lake Management is excited to announce another successful year in the history of the company's dedicated volunteering and community outreach program, The SOLution. The SOLution fosters SOLitude's core company values by encouraging and rewarding volunteerism, activism, outreach and fundraising. Since the program was established in 2012, SOLitude's employees, partners and their families have generated more than 16,877 volunteer hours and donated $518,855 to charitable organizations and causes throughout the country.

Controlling nuisance weeds and invasive pond plants can be challenging and, in many cases, herbicides are the most effective long-term solution. When properly applied by licensed professionals, EPA-registered herbicides can be invaluable tools for safe, fast and cost-effective aquatic plant management. A community was grateful for a new highly-selective herbicide option called ProcellaCOR after struggling for some time to control the invasive aquatic plant floating heart (Nymphoides cristata) in their Florida waterbody.

This property in Florida is a collection of suburban residential homes surrounding a golf course located at the northern tip of the Everglades. Due to southeast Florida’s tropical climate and year-round growing season, many plants—both native and non-native—become invasive. This requires constant monitoring and management on the land and in the water. Algae and invasive water plants such as vallisneria (tape grass) and hydrilla are commonly managed by recurring herbicide treatments in order to maintain proper water flow and water quality health.

That's a wrap! What a year it has been. In honor of the new year, we gathered all of our educational articles and picked the top 10 most-viewed of 2019. Read our most popular articles covering toxic algae, aquatic weed control, fisheries and wildlife management and new innovations and technologies.

For over two decades, SOLitude has focused on improving access to safe, healthy water in the U.S. through sustainable management solutions. In 2019, we expanded this mission to help aid developing countries through charity: water, a non-profit organization that is dedicated to introducing clean water resources to people across the world. 

Please follow us on each of our social media channels below to help provide 100 deserving people with a lifetime of access to clean drinking water through this impactful organization. Already following SOLitude? You can help by sharing our message with your network and inviting family and friends to follow our social accounts. Your support will make all the difference.

This holiday season, SOLitude Lake Management has continued its annual HOLiday Cheer efforts through The SOLution, the company's corporate volunteering and community outreach program. This month, SOLitude donated $8,634 worth of toys, clothes and other necessities to hospitalized children as well as eight under-resourced families throughout the country, bringing total donations through this impactful program to $46,174 since its inception in 2012. In addition, SOLitude’s Massachusetts and Virginia Beach offices helped collect $6,600 worth of donated gifts from the surrounding community for Toys for Tots and Noblemen’s Toy Drive.

The HOLiday Cheer families “adopted” this year reside in New Jersey, New York, Virginia, Florida, Texas and Arizona. The families, which include 24 total children, were selected by SOLitude colleagues and school guidance counselors based on nominations showing a true need for support during a time of financial and emotional hardship. SOLitude and colleagues generously purchased $6,474 worth of gifts from the children’s wish lists to include items such as coats, shoes, games, books and sports gear. Each family also received gift cards to purchase additional household items and groceries for the holiday season.

Written by Sam Sardes, Laboratory Manager and Weed Science Director

If you were sick, would you perform an at-home blood test or would you count on an experienced medical professional? Most of us would choose the expertise of a doctor or nurse. Water quality testing should be viewed in the same vein.

Picturesque lakes and ponds don’t occur by accident. In most cases, they are the result of rigorous, comprehensive aquatic management plans. And water quality testing is often considered the backbone of these successful programs. Like a blood sample, water quality testing can reveal a plethora of information about the status of a waterbody, which can be used to diagnose problems and design custom solutions.

SOLitude Lake Management is pleased to share the impact of the company's first ever Heart & SOL Day, which took place on Friday, Nov. 22. This day of volunteering and community service aimed to inspire community members, homeowners and businesses throughout the country to contribute to charitable causes they care about. SOLitude's 445 colleagues were also empowered to volunteer during work hours. 

Across SOLitude's 35+ nationwide offices, participants volunteered 423 total hours on Heart & SOL Day by contributing to trash clean-ups, food banks, animal sanctuaries, Cardz for Kidz, Habitat for Humanity builds, tree plantings and more. Click to view photos and details about these efforts.

One of the great tools in a lake manager’s tool box is the use of submersed aeration. Sub­mersed lake and pond aeration adds oxy­gen directly into the water column and involves the mixing of water to increase exposure to atmospheric oxygen, thus, decreasing harmful gases like hydrogen sulfide with in the waterbody. This proactive management solution significantly helps promote positive changes in lakes and ponds; however, aeration sys­tems must be properly sized and placed in order for aquatic ecosystems to fully reap the benefits. Surface mapping used in con­junction with depth-sensing technology, such as bathymetry, can help determine the correct size and location of aeration systems to ensure the entire waterbody is receiving adequate oxygenation. 

Submersed pond aerators use diffused air to push water from the bottom of the pond to the surface, where it can be exposed to the atmosphere. The water on the surface then gets displaced and driven down to the bottom of the pond, creating circulation and mixing from top to bottom. This mixing creates a more uniform and oxygenated body of water.