How to calculate the volume of water to be treated with Coptrol

Correct quantity of Coptrol is important

To be sure you are using the correct amount of Coptrol it is important

to calculate the exact volume of water for treatment.

Because Alga only grow in the presence of sunlight disregard depths below 1 metre (approx 3 ft 3 inches) this makes the calculation relatively easy. In the following instructions metric measurements are used throughout. However easy conversions from Imperial or US gallons are provided at the end of this page.

The calculations below will only tell you how much water

you need to treat with Coptrol.

The calculations are not designed to tell you the total

volume of water you have stored.

Do not guess the volume of water as you may not use the correct amount of Coptrol to obtain best results. Too little means an incomplete kill. However if you use too much Coptrol it is not wasted.The unused Coptrol will remain active in the water until the next bloom of algae when Coptrol will zap it.

1. In a rectangular area

Use the following formula:

Length of the area x width of the area x depth.

In this case depth is always 1 metre

Assume the area of water to be treated is 50 metres long and 25 metres

wide.

Then the calculation is 50 x 25 x 1 = 1250 cubic metres. A cubic metre

contains 1000 litres of water.
If the Coptrol application rate was 2 mL per 1000 litres then the amount required would be 1250 x 2 = 2.5 litres.

2. Circular area with steep sides that drop off

Circular pond calculation

Use the following formula:

3.14 x radius squared x 1
(Radius is half the diameter of the inside area)

Let’s assume the inside radius is 25 metres then the calculation is:
3.14 X (25 x 25) x1 = 1963 (rounded up) cubic metres.
A cubic metre equals 1000 litres of water. Therefore if the rate of application of

Coptrol was 2 mL per 1000 litres the amount of Coptrol required would be

1963 x 2 = 3.926 (say 4 litres).

3. Circular area with a conical profile

Conical shaped pond calculation

Use the following formula:

1.047 x surface radius squared x 1
(Radius is half the surface diameter of the area)

Squaring means multiplying the radius by itself.
Again let’s assume the inside radius is 25 metres then the calculation would

be 1.047 x (25 X 25) x 1 = 654 (rounded down) cubic metres. A cubic metre

equals 1000 litres of water.
If the Coptrol dose rate was 5 mL per 1000 Litres then 654 x 5 = 3.27 litres

of Coptrol.

4. Irregular Shaped Dams/Ponds

Often many large Dams or Ponds are an irregular shape. If you have access to an aerial photo of the area calculation is relatively easy. If not you can obtain a reasonable estimate by pacing off the dam margins and then use the

following procedures to calculate the area.

1. Pace out 10 steps and measure the total length. Do this a couple of times.

Average the result and divide by ten. You then have the length of each of

your paces.

2. Draw the general shape of the pond on paper. Graph paper works best.

3. Draw a rectangle on the pond shape that would approximate the area

of the pond if some water was eliminated and placed onto an equal

amount of land. This will give you a rectangle on which to base your

calculation

irregular shaped pond calculation

4. Mark the corners of the rectangle (from the drawing) on the ground around

the Dam/ Pond and then pace its length and width.

5. It’s a good idea to do this a couple of times and average your results. Convert

your paces into length and width by multiplying you pace length by the number

of paces.

6. Multiply the length x width to obtain the approx area of the Dam /Pond

(See Step 1).

7. If a single rectangle does not fit the pond drawing try to fit a combination of

rectangles, circles and triangles. If some combination of shapes fit calculate

the area in each shape and add them all together.

8. Let’s assume the area is 100 metres long by 25 metres wide then the amount

of coptrol required is 100 x 25 x 1= 2500 cubic metres. I cubic metre =1000 litres.

Assume dose rate is 2mL per 1000L then 2 x 2.5= 5 litres of Coptrol.

Conversion Tables

Convert Gallons to Litres	Convert Litres to Gallons
Imperial Gallons: multiply total gallons by 4.546.	Imperial: divide number of gallons by 0.22 e.g. 100 imperial gallons = 100/0.22 = 454.6 Litres.
US Gallons: multiply total gallons by 3.785.	U.S: divide no. of US gallons by 0.264 e.g. 100 US gallons = 100/0.264 = 378.8 Litres.

Radius is half the surface diameter of the area.	Squaring means multiplying the figure by itself.
A cubic metre contains 1000 litres of water.	To convert Cubic feet to cubic metres multiply by .0283.
To convert cubic yards to cubic metres multiply by 0.765.