GAINESVILLE, Ga. — The City of Gainesville has a new high-tech tool to fight algae blooms in Lake Lanier that have caused a musty odor and taste in the drinking water.
Channel 2’s Bryan Mims learned the city has partnered with a company called LG Sonic to use ultrasonic technology to kill algae, deploying three specialized buoys on the lake.
The buoys were placed near the city’s water intake site in mid-January.
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Equipped with solar panels, they emit low-power ultrasound waves in the top water layer that block algae’s access to sunlight and nutrients. That causes the algae to sink to the bottom and die off.
City officials say the technology has the potential to reduce algae by 95%, without using chemicals that could harm other aquatic life and people and pets.
“As the 2025 taste and odor event continued, DWR staff continuously searched for additional remedies,” said the Gainesville Water Resources Director Linda MacGregor in a post on social media. “We sought the input of national experts who identified this as an option worth testing.”
People in the area have noticed a strange taste to the water for months. “I don’t know what mildew tastes like, but it tastes like what I would think mildew would taste like,” said Miles Coker, who lives in Gainesville.
That comes from historically high levels of algae on Lake Lanier, releasing compounds that create a musty, earthy taste and odor.
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“All utilities withdrawing water from both Lake Lanier and the Chattahoochee River are expressing these issues to varying degrees,” MacGregor said in the post. “Also, other lakes have experienced identical issues this year, more so than other years.”
Becca Risser, a specialist for the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, said several factors contributed to the extremely high algae levels.
“We had a very wet spring, a dry summer, and the temperatures throughout the fall have been pretty moderate,” she said.
Runoff pollution – from farms, lawns and wastewater treatment plants – is another big feeder of algae blooms.
“Water quality problems, pollution sources all through the watershed contribute to the algae situation on the lake,” she said.
City officials say Gainesville is the first city in Georgia to use this algae-fighting technology.
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