Why is water so greenish blue???

I was at the point this last weekend, and while in line for the Maverick and Iron Dragon, I started to notice how greenish blue the water is. I was wondering what makes it that color because I heard someone say it's from the oil and grease from TTD but I find that hard to believe.

I believe it's a treatment the park puts in the water.

Cedar Point is dumping filthy toxic waste. Mwahahaha.

And kicking puppies while doing it!

It's a coloring that helps keep the alge and plants from growing at least thats what i've seen it used for. Here's a prouduct probally not what they use though.

If I remember it is to slow or stop algae growth.

Hmmm...

I understand that the lagoon water is used in the cooling system for Dragster, and it was the year that Dragster opened that the coloration to the water appeared. I heard a rumor that Dragster significantly elevates the water temperature in the lagoon, and I wonder if that caused an increase in algae blooms, which in turn could cause problems at intake and discharge ports.

I don't know if any of that is true, but it makes a little bit of sense...

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Does anyone know for sure if they use that water for TTD cooling? I kind of find that hard to believe. But it seems to me that they'd rather have the water blue-green than mud brown, which it would likely be if they didn't color it.

I believe the water has been some sort of funky blue shade for quite some time. I believe it might have changed color the first season of Mantis. The color of the water before this was a murky greenish color that although it may be disturbing looking, is actually somewhat normal in this area due to the soils that we have. I always thought that Cedar Point dyed the water blue to make it look like what the visitors think clean water should look like.

Since the water in the lagoons is tied into the lake/bay I doubt they are allowed to "add" anything, at least in terms of treatments/chemicals. I suspect the EPA would have something to say about that.

The higher temperatures that might be caused by TTD make sense to a point. But, if that increase were THAT dramatic then I expect there would be fish kills associated as well.

I always thought that in areas that are surrounded by concrete (pond by maverick) they paint the concrete that color so it is less noticed, and looks more realistic.

Like others have said, I'm sure it's chemicals to stop unwanted plant life and algae build up. I have friends who live on a farm and their pond is greenish blue. They add the chemicals to their home pond.

If they didn't, the run off of the fertilizers they use on their crops would fill the pond with growth.

Dvo said:
Does anyone know for sure if they use that water for TTD cooling? I kind of find that hard to believe.

Me too. I would think they would be better off with some sort of closed water cooling system. I can't imagine using water from the lagoon could be that efficient.

How is not efficient? Its a water cooled system with an enormous reservoir!

^I was basing that on the fact that using water from the lagoon would eliminate the ability to use a coolant additive. Using additives such as ethylene glycol or propylene glycol (commonly mislabeled as "coolants"), increases the boiling point of water typically to over 350 degrees.

Also water by itself is corrosive, and does not lubricate seals, gaskets, water pumps, and propellers well enough. Additives solve that lubrication problem.

An enormous reservoir of fouled water. If Dragster uses shell and tube heat exchangers this water would not be my choice to keep a $25 million ride operating.

Is the mist they spray under Iron Dragon the same water?

^^ - one of the reasons for additives though is that you have a finite amount of water that needs to absorb an amount of energy well beyond the normal capacity of that volume of water. By using the lagoon, you have an unlimited (relatively speaking) supply of water to use for cooling the motors.

Then I'm glad it wasn't up to you, Shades. :)

I've heard - but don't quote me on this - that mankind has developed the ability to "filter" (not sure if that's the correct spelling, since these engineering terms are all so foreign to me) various fluids, including water.

...and because of the nature of the system, it really would only be necessary to screen the water. Liquid cooling is used in place of air cooling ( which is used on most hydraulic systems) because using a liquid makes it possible to move a larger amount of heat in a smaller amount of time because water has a much higher heat capacity than air.

If the system maximum operating temperature is low enough (as it probably is) to keep unpressurized water from boiling, then it makes perfect sense to use the lagoon as a heat sink if only because that means there is no need for a separate cooling reservoir. Ideally, there should still be a water-air heat exchanger to remove some of the heat before the water goes back to the lagoon, but the same could be accomplished by putting the discharge and intake some distance from one another and letting the circulation in the lagoon take care of equalizing the temperature.

On a related note, has anybody here ever seen the outside of the transmitter plant for WLW radio down near Cincinnati? There is a nice pond with a fountain out in front of the building. The reason? That pond was used for cooling the half-megawatt transmitter.

Using the existing lagoon for cooling is a space- cost- and energy-saving trick that makes about as much sense as Cedar Point's use of Sandusky Bay as a reservoir for Thunder Canyon.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I always thought of it as some sort of unnatural color, thought I might find a 3-eyed fish like on the Simpsons someday. But I see that the fish survive very well in that water.. but it's still a very funky color.