Ten years ago, about half a million people lost their water when algae-produced toxins forced Toledo to tell residents it was not safe to drink for nearly three days. Suddenly an entire city and its service area had no tap water to bathe, cook or run businesses.
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After 2014, Toledo spent more than $500 million upgrading water treatment facilities, adding ozone and carbon treatments and other methods to kill algae and remove toxins.
Buoys loaded with sensors alert operators of algae before it gets to the city’s water intake three miles offshore, so operators know what’s in the water and how to treat it.
Officials and experts really hope to see a cleaner Lake Erie. Just like farmers don’t want to use more fertilizer than they have to for good yields, water plants would prefer to use fewer chemicals and processes to treat water.
Will it ever happen? There’s not a lot of consensus, even among those who know the lake and its issues the best.
Lake Erie health: Fast facts