You would have had a normal organic load going into the Laguna, and these bacteria from the leaf litter washing into the Laguna would have cleansed it. It was a natural balance. But now, that balance has been upset. The IOS 500 formula uses enormous numbers of bacteria of the same kind as those that have been devouring all the leaf litter falling on the earth for hundreds of millions of years. This type of bacteria has a huge appetite for organic material.
Aeration assures that enough oxygen is available to keep the process bubbling.
In the case of the Barlow leak into the Laguna, the water cleared up in just a week. It has great applicability to a whole host of situations where we're trying to restore the environment. Wickham says the inexpensiveness of the treatment makes it much easier for Fish and Game to enforce water-quality rules. He'll sell the property and turn it into a housing project, which will deteriorate the environment even more. In such cases, Fish and Game may be tempted to overlook infractions rather than lose farmland.