Industry Experts Present EarthTec QZ at Western Regional Panel on Aquatic Invasive Species

At this year’s Western Regional Panel on Aquatic Invasive Species, industry representatives presented EarthTec QZ as an alternative treatment for invasive mussels, focusing on its low-dose rates and minimal impact on non-target organisms.

SALT LAKE CITY, UT  – Two industry representatives presented on EarthTec QZ at the Western Regional Panel on Aquatic Invasive Species at their 2023 annual meeting  in Salt Lake City, UT.  

ESL’s Vice President of Applications, Dr. David Hammond, PhD, and Robert Walters, an AIS representative from Colorado, both reported on the usage and efficiency of EarthTec QZ, an EPA-regulated molluscicide.  

Dr. Hammond spoke on recent projects involving EarthTec QZ as an alternative treatment for invasive mussels, focusing specifically on its low-dose rates and minimal impact on non-target organisms. “We couldn’t find any live adult zebra mussels beyond 10 days after treatment,” said Dr. Hammond of the third project, a suppression effort on a 30-acre lake in Chicago using a low-dose application of EarthTec QZ. This case also showed a 95% decrease in veligers one day after application. 28 days after the application, no veligers were found.  

Dr. Hammond reports that treatments with EarthTec QZ will result in short-term population shifts among non-target organisms, an eventual rebound by native and beneficial species, and increased species diversity.  

Earlier at the conference, AIS representative Robert Walters spoke on the zebra mussel eradication effort at Highline Lake in Colorado’s Highline Lake State Park.  

The initial eradication process at Highline was a two-step process. Step one drew the reservoir down 30 feet to expose the mussels to freezing and drying conditions. Step two was applying EarthTec QZ across the reservoir in three treatments, each two weeks apart.  

“We did everything we possibly could to … hit everything that was in contact with that reservoir,” said Walters. As of now, the eradication effort is still in progress. Colorado Parks and Wildlife plans to implement a containment program for at least the next 5 years. 

For those interested in learning more about how EarthTec QZ is being used to control invasive mussels, you can view Dr. David Hammond’s full presentation here. Robert Walters’s presentation about Highline Lake is also available to watch in full here.

Earth Science Laboratories Inc. develops and manufactures sustainable chemical water treatment products for use in municipal, agricultural, and recreational waters. EarthTec QZ is an EPA-registered molluscicide used to control zebra and quagga mussels in pipelines and open waters. It is NSF certified to Standard 60 as an additive to drinking water. More information is available at www.earthtecqz.com.