Keeping the lakes and environment clean since 1998, Palm Beach Aquatics offers full-service restoration and maintenance. Owners Jeff Mangel and John Natale — a former marine biologist and management and marketing professional, respectively — established the company after the two friends decided to combine their skills to start a new business.
For 14 years, they have been providing all types of lake and environmental maintenance services, and have expanded to include a location in Tampa, which is run by Mangel’s son.
Palm Beach Aquatics specializes in anything pertaining to light environmental maintenance, wetland restoration and mitigation maintenance for compliance with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards. “We do everything from fish-stocking to fountains to aerators,” Mangel said.
Mangel and Natale first meet with clients for an initial consultation to understand what they want. Based on this assessment, they determine what process would be most beneficial to get the job done properly with successful results. “We also educate our customers,” Natale said. “This is the most important part because we have to make them understand how the lake is an ecosystem, and the complexities of how it works.”
Palm Beach Aquatics focuses on keeping the environment as clean as possible through various eco-friendly processes. One of the ways is by using fewer chemicals to treat lakes and wetlands, and they have adapted the use of Weedoo Boats, eco-friendly vessels that clean lakes and canals without harming the environment.
“We have solar aeration systems,” Natale said. “Aerations are a bubbler, like in a fish tank that bubble up. They can help put oxygen into water, and this helps the water, in turn helping the plants and fish naturally.”
The use of fewer chemicals to treat the environment is extremely important to Palm Beach Aquatics. “We think that is the future,” Natale said.
They have seen the shift in the industry, with the limited use of chemicals over the years, and an emphasis on alternative processes. “When we started this company, we probably had 20-plus chemicals we were able to use in the field,” Natale said. “We are now down to a dozen or less that are in the market right now.”
Palm Beach Aquatics tries to use the best possible alternatives to clean and maintain the environment.
“The chemicals that we do use are all EPA-approved,” Natale said. “But we are still trying to move into an even more green arena, and we believe we are going to be one of the first companies in Palm Beach County to be more green in chemical use.”
Palm Beach Aquatics assists customers in making sure they are in compliance with EPA standards. “We work with mostly developments, from golf courses to communities with HOAs to people with private ponds,” Mangel said. “We not only want to make sure that they are in compliance, but they are moving in a green direction through plants, aerators and manual removal equipment.”
Keeping the environment clean and free of chemicals that may be harmful to people’s health is a major concern for many of Palm Beach Aquatics’ clients. “Especially in the equestrian communities, where they don’t want a lot of chemicals in the water where the horses might play in or drink it — that has become one of our specialties, working with the equestrian community,” Mangel said. “And we work with a lot of farmers out here as well.”
Palm Beach Aquatics is located at 1555 Folsom Road in Loxahatchee Groves. For more information, visit www.pbaquatics.com or call (561) 719-8900.
