Floating Islands

BioHaven Floating Islands are buoyant mats that are planted with sod, garden plants or wetland vegetation and launched into a body of water. They are usually anchored in place, but can be left to float around freely. As the plants grow, their roots extend through the matrix into the water below. They were inspired by the floating peat bogs of Northern Wisconsin and are designed to “bio-mimic” these bogs as they remove pollutants, nitrates, phosphates, ammonia and heavy metals from the water. They also provide critical riparian edge habitat, sequester carbon and other greenhouse gases, provide wave mitigation and help control erosion.

Floating Islands are made from a matrix of fibers that are bonded together with foam to provide buoyancy. The matrix is filtration material made of 100% recycled plastic from drink bottles, which is the most inert plastic available. Expanded, the matrix in a 250 sf island is the equivalent of 1 acre of wetland surface area. This extensive surface area allows microbes to create a concentrated wetland effect that makes the Floating Island many times more effective than Nature is.

Nutrients, which arrive in the water column via fertilizers, are harmful to bodies of water as they allow algae to grow; but if we give microbes enough surface area, they’ll use the nutrients for their own growth before algae can use them. Applications for the water-cleansing features of Floating Islands include wastewater lagoons, farm ponds, storm water ponds, drainage ponds, golf courses, rivers and any waterway susceptible to algal blooms caused by excess nutrients. They are also perfect to beautify any body of water, no matter the size.