? Prevent Zebra Mussel / Invasive Species Fresh Water Cross-Contamination

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Capt I

Registered
Messages
12
Reaction score
3
Location
Missouri, USA
# of dives
100 - 199
What treatment can I apply to disinfect my dive equipment and inside my wing (without harming the gear, of course!) to prevent contamination of other bodies of water after having been diving for this past week in a freshwater lake that is rife with zebra mussels? I sure don’t want to be spreading those things!!

I read that DAN recommends using a 1% bleach solution for disinfecting dive equipment, but that seems more geared towards bacteria & fungi.
- Will this also work on zebra mussel larvae (veligers)?
- Is there another effective solution that I can apply to prevent zebra mussel larvae from infecting the next body of fresh water that I will dive in?
- Are there other fresh water invasive species I should also be careful about in the same way?

Some background from Wikipedia:
… An adult female zebra mussel can produce 30,000 to 40,000 eggs in each reproductive cycle, and over 1 million each year. Free-swimming microscopic larvae, called veligers, drift in the water for several weeks and then settle onto any hard surface they can find. Zebra mussels also can tolerate a wide range of environmental conditions, and adults can even survive out of water for about 7 days. …

Thanks!
 
Drying seems to be the best way, maybe a little stronger bleach inside the b/c drain and inflate and drain until no liquid comes out, inflate and let dry fora few days.
 
From what we’ve experienced down here in Texas and boaters who ignore the protocols, a diver’s gear is insignificant.
 
From what we’ve experienced down here in Texas and boaters who ignore the protocols, a diver’s gear is insignificant.
Yeah, I get it - but I live on a small lake that does not have them yet, I may go to other unaffected areas, and it's just the right thing to do IMHO.
Besides, I hate the damned things!!
Thanks!
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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