Foreclosures in Wellington Florida require catfish to clean pools
Inadequate property preservation is among the many negative impacts that foreclosures have on neighborhoods nationwide. Broken windows, litter, untamed landscaping and green pools, among other deleterious side effects of abandoned/bank-owned homes, all affect nearby property values. Banks, local governments, Homeowner Associations (HOAs) and even good neighbors often all do their best to stay on top of regular [...]
Inadequate property preservation is among the many negative impacts that foreclosures have on neighborhoods nationwide.
Broken windows, litter, untamed landscaping and green pools, among other deleterious side effects of abandoned/bank-owned homes, all affect nearby property values.
Banks, local governments, Homeowner Associations (HOAs) and even good neighbors often all do their best to stay on top of regular maintenance — it’s in their collective best interests.
However, when the volume of foreclosures becomes too much to handle — whether it’s because of a lack of financial or other resources — some towns and cities have no other choice but to get creative and find alternate, less expensive, solutions.
Such is the case in Wellington, Florida.
From the Palm Beach Post:
“Wellington officials are installing catfish from the Amazon in the swimming pools of foreclosed houses to see whether the 18-inch fish, called Pterygoplichthys and commonly known as ‘plecos,’ will be a cost-effective, eco-friendly method of cleaning stagnant pools…. The village has started a pilot program using the algae-eating fish, called Pterygoplichthys and commonly known as ‘plecos’ or ’sailfin catfish,’ in slime-choked swimming pools. Mitchell hopes the slime-eaters will be an inexpensive and eco-friendly way to clean up abandoned pools, an all-you-can-eat banquet of scum that’s the catfish equivalent of Cafe Boulud.”
The foot-and-a-half long scum suckers sell for $15 a pop and are expected to set Wellington back about about $700, according to the report. That’s about $6,300 in annual savings that would have been passed on to potential buyers.
To check out foreclosure homes in Wellington and other nearby areas in Florida click here.
The fish, unfortunately, are not included — the non-natives will be relocated or destroyed because they cannot be released into the wild.
