Lake Eola
Lake Restoration Methods
C.W. SHEFFIELD, Pollution Control Officer
TERRY L. STODDART, Microbiologist
RICHARD ALT, Chemist
RAYMOND T. KALEEL, Biologist
Orange County Pollution Control Department
Orlando, Florida 32806
MARTIN WANIELISTA, Director
Environmental Systems Engineering Institute
Florida Technological University
Orlando, Florida 32816
INTRODUCTION
The problems associated with pollution of lakes from industrial, municipal, and other
waste sources are numberous. The restoration of these polluted waters is complicated and
in most instances expensive.
The project endeavors to demonstrate means for restoring lakes which have been
degraded, following the elimination of pollutional sources.
The restoration of Lake Eola in Orlando, Florida was the objective of the project. This
lake was in a highly degraded state from various sources of pollutants. The restoration
project consisted of initial research studies to determine the existing problems and.the
development of a restoration plan. The basic plan consisted of the following: 1) lowering of
the lake to enhance bottom material consolidation; 2) silt and muck removal; 3) adding
layers of sand to help eliminate nutrient recycling; 4) treatment devices enacted on all storm
drains; 5) algae control; 6) transplanting of macrophytes and; 7) restocking the lake with
fish.
Documentation of each phase was enacted by Orange County Pollution Control
Department, Florida Technological University and other water pollution control agencies.
T his project will serve as a model for other lakes to demonstrate an economical and
practical means of restoring a polluted body of water.
DISCUSSION      GENERAL
The restoration of Lake Eola was initiated by the action of many concerned Orange
County citizens and governmental agencies.
Lake Eola is located in the heart of the metropolitan Orlando area. This twenty-eight
acre lake is surrounded by a beautifully landscaped park. It receives the surface run-off
from four hundred acres of city streets. The storm water enters the lake via twenty-two
active street drains. Several of these drains are continuously flowing, carrying waste water
primarily from commerical cooling systems.
The fountain located near the center of the lake recycles approximately 4.3 million
gallons of water per day enhancing oxygenation of the lake waters.
The morphology of the lake is given in Figure 1 and 2. The shoreline of the lake is fairly
regular with no coves or sheltered areas. Two striking features of the shoreline were a
seawall around the perimeter of the lake, eliminating natural beach areas, and a complete
absence of submergent and emergent aquatic macrophytes.
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