Those who are up early in Fountain Hills might have noticed the town’s landmark Fountain spouting off as early as 5 a.m. in recent weeks.

Those night owls with good timing may also have seen the Fountain operating in the middle of the night.

This is an all-out effort to stir up the water in the lake enough to keep the algae at bay.

Summer in Fountain Hills means the warm temperatures, combined with the nitrogen rich effluent water in the lake combine to create an algae bloom and the odors that go with it.

Town Community Services Director Mark Mayer says the algae still seems to be under control, but there is odor coming from the lake.

“This has been a particularly tough year,” Mayer said. “I haven’t seen a season like this in the 15 years I have been here.”

Usually the town will start extending run times for the Fountain in April in an effort to keep the water moving enough to stave off the algae growth.

However, the unusually cool weather this spring prompted the town’s water quality consultant for the lake to recommend delaying the start of the extended time. Mayer said staff was inclined to go along with the recommendation due to the cost of keeping the Fountain running.

“We decided to add our overnight runs starting in early May,” Mayer said. “We were getting odor complaints.”

“We have had two treatments for odor and while it has helped, the smell is still not acceptable.”

It has also been a windy spring which cuts into the time the Fountain can run. With the lake filled with treated wastewater, regulations require that any spray from the Fountain remain within the boundary of the lake itself. If the wind speed reaches eight miles per hour the Fountain will automatically shut down.

Recently they have run the Fountain continuously from 5 a.m. until 11 a.m. daily if the wind conditions allow. This helps keep the water moving and mixing, but it is a difficult chore to keep up.

The town has a number of aerating devices under the water in the lake which run continuously. However, some of those have been damaged and had to be repaired recently.

Mayer said disc golfers who have discs end up in the lake will use a raking type of tool to reach out to try and retrieve the disc. Very often the rake will catch on the aerator lines and pull them apart or completely out of the water.

“Right now we are up and running full capacity,” Mayer said. “We still intend to add more of the aerators in the lake.”

Right now budget constraints are keeping that project on the wish list rather than taking action.

The monsoon humidity is right around the corner and that will enhance to conditions to grow the algae in the lake.

“Our consultant tells us that it has been difficult this spring for everyone across the Valley using effluent in lakes,” Mayer said. “We are doing everything we can.”