Treatment plants voluntarily test for microcystin

Published: Monday, 6/30/2014 - Updated: 10 seconds ago LAKE ERIE ALGAE BLOOMS

BY STEPHEN GRUBER-MILLER BLADE STAFF WRITER

Lake Eries annual algae blooms can carry harmful toxins into public drinking water treatment plants, but facilities arent specifically required to test for the toxins.

To combat the toxins, many water treatment facilities along Lake Eries Western Basin, from Lorain, Ohio, to Monroe, are cooperating with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency by testing voluntarily for microcystin, a toxin in microcystis, the lakes most prevalent form of harmful blue-green algae.

Algal blooms are a result of high levels of phosphorous in the water attributed to runoff from agricultural fertilizer, manure, sewage overflows, and septic systems. The toxin can cause breathing problems, skin reactions, and liver damage, and large enough quantities can even be deadly.

State code requires that public drinking water systems plan for at least 10 of the most likely emergencies and provide descriptions of response procedures and how to maintain service during those emergencies. But many plants do not list algal toxins among those common emergencies.

They get to choose what emergencies to plan for, Dina Pierce, an Ohio EPA spokesman, said to explain why some plants have algae plans in place and others dont.

Likely emergencies differ from plant to plant depending on location and other factors, but now, in formal regulations absence, the state EPA is urging all treatment plants to use surface water test for microcystin and update their contingency plans to prepare for the toxin.

Some water departments, including in Toledo and Ottawa County, are drafting new plans they hope to have ready by the typical mid to late July start of algae season, while others suggested that their existing plans are sufficient to address the toxin threat.

Certain operators have decided algae-specific plans are unnecessary because any contingency plan would contain some of the same basic elements: telling customers not to use the water; isolating alternative sources, such as bottled water, uncontaminated water towers, or a neighboring, unaffected water plant; and monitoring toxin levels until they are eliminated.

Read more here:
Treatment plants voluntarily test for microcystin