AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari
Last Saturday, I was helping my son move to a new job in Wisconsin. We spent the night in a motel just outside Toledo and woke to find that we couldn’t take showers, brush our teeth or have a cup of coffee. We were hardly alone. Roughly 500,000 people in Toledo, Ohio and surrounding suburbs also woke to hear that they should not drink the water, as it might be toxic. Even washing might cause skin rashes and itching. An algal bloom in Lake Erie, from which Toledo gets is water, created toxins which made the water unsafe for drinking, cooking or even bathing. The water ban lasted for more than two days, and has still not been lifted in some neighborhoods.
The problem is not new. This sort of algal bloom has been going on in Lake Erie for years. This year’s bloom is actually smaller than last year’s. Unfortunately, wind and weather blew it closer to the water intake suctions this year than last. The cause is also no surprise. The yearly blooms are caused by ever larger quantities of phosphorus washing into the lake by manure and chemical fertilizer from farms, along with outflow from sewage treatment plants. Leaky septic tanks and stormwater drains add to the problem. The amount of phosphorus going into the lake has risen every year since the mid-1990s. Last year, one township just east of Toledo with 2,000 residents was hit by toxic algal contamination. This year, the figure was a half million and the city appears to have no real plan to prevent a future occurrence.
As reported by the New York Times: Algae fed by phosphorus runoff from mid-America farms helped create an oxygen-free dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico last summer that was nearly as big as New Jersey. The Chesapeake Bay regularly struggles with a similar problem.
Algal blooms are also common in the western end of Long Island Sound, where blooms have created oxygen-free “dead zones.”. As the algal blooms took place in salt water, they did not threaten the local water supply. Nevertheless, toxins from the algae poisoned the local shellfish.
On the West Coast, oysters, particularly those in Washington State, are in peril due to ocean acidification. Washington State Governor Jay Inslee recently said, “It used to be the canary in the coal mine, Now it’s the oyster in the half shell. You can’t overstate what this means to Washington.”
Coal miners used to carry canaries into the mines because the canaries died in the in the presence of dangerous gases. The canaries provided an early warning before the gases became lethal to the miners themselves. Today the oceans are in trouble due to the effects of pollution and climate change. The real question is — will we head the warnings in time? Are dying oysters like a canary in the coal mine? Will we take action against ocean acidiification or will we simply watch as shellfish and coral reefs die? Will a half million people without safe water around Toledo be a call to action to limit lake pollution or is this just the preview of worse to come?
Well said, and more need to say — and hear — the message.
Yeah I think there should be major restrictions on non food fertilizers (golf courses, landscaping ect.) and I think this makes a even greater argument against ethanol as a “green” fuel. Since corn needs a lot of fertilizer to grow and is it worth renewability if you are killing the sea/lake life. Same thing happens in the keys and off of New Orleans terrible stuff.
Lake Erie is the toilet for the 3 lakes above us.
This started yesrs ago when they slowed the flow over Niagara Falls. If they left the falls alone, most of thei would have been flushed into Lake Ontario, then through the seaway and out to the ocean.
The green alage problem has been reported in 41 states.
Vermont farmer peeing 6000 gallons a year on his fields.
Breaks down to ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer. Run-off adds to green algae in our waters.
Should We Return The Nutrients In Our Pee Back To The Farm?
by ELIZA BARCLAY
July 31, 2014 4:03 PM ET
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/07/31/336564120/should-we-return-the-nutrients-in-our-pee-back-to-the-farm?
Toledo also supplies watrr to parts of lower Michigan, but someone didn’t get the info to Michigan fir several hours later.
Even iv its declared safe, it could still be in the city waterlines and your home plumbing. All has to be flushed and refrigerator filters changed if you have ice and cold water from those devices.
Consider Floating Island of Plants or Artificial Wetland Cells!
I am surprised to see phosphorus to be identified as the problem. Look at the side of a fertilizer bag. You will find 3 numbers. Say 10 10 10. Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium. These elements are necessary for plant growth and crop yields.
Summer sun warms the lakes, summer rain storms flush the land surface into the lakes and streams. Warm water fosters the growth of algae. Excess nutrients further feeds the algae and the over population makes the water look green. Lake Erie is the shallowest lake on the chain, hence the warmest. Look up trophic state of waterbodies for more information.
I live in Florida. Our ponds are totally green because of these same factors. I have given up on stopping the flow of nutrients into these water bodies. Instead I have focused on consuming the nutrients, attempting to take away the food algae needs to survive. This is sort of a population control effort.
Efforts on land; We need to slow the flow of the runoff using wetlands. Slowing runoff can mean flooding. As the water is held back it is allowed to perk into the ground. Wetlands slow the flow and filter the water of these nutrients. Most of the land is already owned and expensive to convert.
Efforts on water: Here is where I have focused my efforts. Using floating islands of plants, I attempt to take away the nutrients algae needs to thrive. Cattails, Bullrush are wonderful plants. They grow profusely on the island and the root system dangles down into the water. The root systems of these plants give off oxygen. Oxygen fosters the growth of beneficial bacteria. Beneficial bacteria can consume ten times the nutrients that a plant can take up. Together, using the sun’s energy these floating islands can begin the absorption of the nutrients. As a side benefit the islands become a habitat for wildlife. Fish use it for cover and a source of food. Birds are attracted. Turtles sun themselves. Predators feed there too.
I have assembled a couple of documents that talk to this problem. I find the Washington State sturdy “Clean Water”, the article “The Practical Significance of Mud” and the “Nitrogen Cycle” useful basic documents that can be used to better understand the problem and nature’s solutions.
While man does have some impact on these problems, the energy from the sun seems to have a profound impact. I say this because we fret about this most in the summer. When the lakes are cold or frozen, the problem is markedly reduced but man’s activities continue year round.
Please visit http://www.logangatevillage.org and download the plans for a floating island, and the documents mentioned above. Consume the info, ponder the concepts, and then take action to put a small island in your water world. Improve on the island concepts. Build an island.
I am a layman. Using plants, I learned how to have a crystal clear Koi pond year round in Florida. Algae is a plant. Just a less desirable plant.
Artificial wetlands are being used to filter and treat waste water in areas that do not have the industrial style treatment systems. Waste water treatment plants use natures’s methods to consume the waste nutrients and use mechanical systems to speed up the process. Delivering this treated water to homes for irrigation (making yards wetlands) helps further filter and treat the water.
I am also an artist and specialize in making replicas of vessels that feature curved glass sails. http://www.shipsofglassinc.com.
The fertilizer bags don’t always say 10, 10, 10. Some of the numbers run both higher and lower. Too much nitrogen and you burn your crops.
Anyway the local had this today.
EPA official says toxic water threat not over
TOLEDO (AP) — The threat of toxins contaminating water supplies along western Lake Erie is far from over even after Ohio’s fourth-largest city declared its water safe again.
http://chronicle.northcoastnow.com/2014/08/06/epa-official-says-toxic-water-threat/
Not much wetland to soak it up.
everything is covered in concrete and blacktop.
Building island there wouldn’t work, its a major sport fishing area.
Old sub hunter converted.
NASA jet captures high-tech images of algae bloom as officials say water problems could persistJet comes from Cleveland’s Glenn Research Center
http://www.newsnet5.com/news/local-news/cleveland-metro/nasa-jet-captures-high-tech-images-of-algae-bloom-as-officials-say-water-problems-could-persist
Minnesota is at the headwaters of the Mississippi as well lying at the head of Lake Superior. It restricts use of phosphorus fertilizer on lawns. As of 2007, it was the only state doing so. I’ve gotten informational inserts with my water bill so there is a real effort to educate citizens about it. http://www.mda.state.mn.us/phoslaw
If you have a yard with grass, think about the chemicals you pour on it to make it green.
At one time I had a house just outside the small city, with 4 acres, it was mostly well manicured weeds. City water was in short supply. If the cop caught you watering anything, you got a ticket.