Update 8″06am on Monday August 4th:
A water ban entered its third day in northwest Ohio after tests showed some toxins still contaminating Lake Erie, leaving residents to continue scrambling for water for drinking, cooking and bathing.
Toledo Mayor D. Michael Collins said that most of the tests done by state and federal authorities on Sunday showed a positive trend, but that additional testing is necessary.
He added that he was concerned by some of the results and didn’t want to take any chances.
The city council was to review the test results at its regularly-scheduled meeting today.
Ohio’s fourth-largest city warned residents not to use city water early Saturday after tests at one treatment plant showed readings for microcystin above the standard for consumption, most likely from algae on the lake. The advisory affected more than 400,000 residents in northwestern Ohio and southwestern Michigan. Ohio Gov. John Kasich declared a state of emergency.
Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, criticized officials for not releasing the test results to the public over the weekend.
She tweeted on Sunday that the state and federal branches of the Environmental Protection Agency “should make public what it knows about Toledo water. The public has a right to know. Transparency is essential.”
Worried residents told not to drink, brush their teeth or wash dishes with the water descended on truckloads of bottled water delivered from across the state. The Ohio National Guard was using water purification systems to produce drinkable water.
*****************************************************************************
Toxins possibly from algae on Lake Erie have fouled the water supply of the state’s fourth-largest city, Toledo, forcing officials to issue warnings not to drink the water and the governor to declare a state of emergency as worried residents descended on stores, quickly clearing shelves of bottled water.
“It looked like Black Friday,” said Aundrea Simmons, who stood in a line of about 50 people at a pharmacy before buying four cases of water. “I have children and elderly parents. They take their medication with water.”
The city advised about 400,000 residents in Toledo, most of its suburbs and a few areas in southeastern Michigan not to brush their teeth with or boil the water because that would only increase the toxin’s concentration. The mayor also warned that children should not shower or bathe in the water and that it shouldn’t be given to pets.
Toledo issued the warning just after midnight after tests at one treatment plant showed two sample readings for microsystin above the standard for consumption.
Algae blooms during the summer have become more frequent and troublesome around the western end of Lake Erie, the shallowest of the five Great Lakes.
The algae growth is fed by phosphorous mainly from farm fertilizer runoff and sewage treatment plants, leaving behind toxins that have contributed to oxygen-deprived dead zones where fish can’t survive. The toxins can kill animals and sicken humans.
Scientists had predicted a significant bloom of the blue-green algae this year, but they didn’t expect it to peak until early September.
Gov. John Kasich’s emergency order allowed the state to begin bringing water into the Toledo area. Large containers were being filled with water at a prison near Columbus and trucked about 130 miles north to Toledo, said Joe Andrews, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Public Safety.
The state also asked major grocery chains to divert as much water as they can to northwest Ohio, Andrews said.
As truckloads of water came in from across the state, Toledo leaders set up distribution centers at schools around the city, limiting families to one case of bottled water. Some stores were receiving new shipments of water and putting limits on how much people can buy.
“We’re going to be prepared to make sure people are not without water,” said Toledo Mayor D. Michael Collins.
He said the city hopes to know Saturday night how long the warning will stay in place, and he pleaded with residents not to panic. There were no reports yet of people becoming sick from drinking the water, Collins said.
Sample of water were flown to the federal and state Environmental Protection Agency offices in Cincinnati and Columbus and a university in Michigan for additional testing, officials said.
Police officers were called to stores as residents lined up to buy bottled water, bags of ice and flavored water.
“People were hoarding it. It’s ridiculous,” said Monica Morales, who bought several cases of bottled water before the store sold out of water a half-hour after opening.
Stores in cities up to 50 miles away were reporting shortages of bottled water. Some neighboring communities that aren’t connected to Toledo’s water system were offering their water to people who brought their own bottles and containers.
Operators of water plants all along Lake Erie, which supplies drinking water for 11 million people, have been concerned over the last few years about toxins fouling their supplies.
Almost a year ago, one township just east of Toledo told its 2,000 residents not to drink or use the water coming from their taps. That was believed to be the first time a city has banned residents from using the water because of toxins from algae in the lake.
Most water treatment plants along the western Lake Erie shoreline treat their water to combat the algae. Toledo spent about $4 million last year on chemicals to treat its water and combat the toxins.