Improving Midwestern Water Quality with Man-Made Islands

MILWAUKEE (May 25) - To clean the water in ponds surrounded by a large, suburban development south of Milwaukee, developers are using man-made, floating islands as natural filters. Constructed by Midwest Floating Islands in St Paul and paid for with a grant from Fund for Lake Michigan, these islands hope to address the issues of urban-based chemical run-off that finds its way into water supplies and the Great Lakes. Initial estimates are that the islands can remove, "up to 67% of nitrogen, up to 68% of phosphorus and 75% of suspended solids in storm water."