Water Advisory : Toledo, OH and Surrounding Areas.

Area residents warned not to drink or touch tap water

The city of Toledo released an urgent notice to all Toledo water users overnight. The city is asking anyone who receives water from Toledo to avoid drinking or boiling the water. This warning also affects people in Lucas County and parts of Michigan.

Chemists testing water at Toledo's Collins Park Water Treatment Plant tested for microcystin in excess of the recommended amount. Health officials are advising businesses who use water to treat this like a level 3 snow emergency and remain closed.

What happened? What is being done?

Lake Erie, which is a source of drinking water for the Toledo water system may have been impacted by a harmful algal bloom (HAB). These organisms are capable of producing a number of toxins that may pose a risk to human and animal health. HABs occur when excess nitrogen and phosphorus are present in lakes and streams. Such nutrients can come from runoff of over-fertilized fields and lawns, from malfunctioning septic systems and from livestock pens.

WTVG








So, yeah, I live in the area and was awoken at 7am this morning, my wife, "ummm honey, better come here and watch this"....

I ventured out, first stop Kroger, couldn't even get into the parking lot, a couple of miles down the road, Walmart, got a parking spot right up front, but no water in the store. I did get some Gatorade, Pop, Milk, etc.

Ventured back out, found a little "carryout" store, they had some water, so I was able to get 5-6 bottles.

I don't mind not being able to drink the water, as I usually drink Pop, Milk, etc. I don't like not being able to shower and brush my teeth. YuK.

That last picture actually makes me a little angry.

There should have been a limit on how much you can buy, so that more people could get some water.

a reply to: elevatedone

So this would affect NW Indiana too?
Can't you travel far enough to get to a Sam's Club or anything?

Edit: or sw Michigan...

Wonder if you can put small amounts of bleach in. And then boil after a while? People with wells do it.

Here's a thought. I see bottles of vitamin waters and juice left behind.
Keep the juice.
Get a Brita filter jug...
And see if it really gets everything out and down to just water.

I was just telling the wife, we'll wait this out a couple of hour and hope for an update on how long this is going to last.
If we need to, then yeah, travel a little ways and pick up some water somewhere.

Yeah, that is why I prefer private well water compared to reservoir city water. Well, one of the reasons anyway.

a reply to: elevatedone

You should go now. Seriously, the longer you wait the further you'll have to travel.

I see this getting ugly fast. Be safe buddy!

originally posted by: elevatedone
I was just telling the wife, we'll wait this out a couple of hour and hope for an update on how long this is going to last.
If we need to, then yeah, travel a little ways and pick up some water somewhere.

They will hopefully truck it in after one day.
Hospitals and day cares, can't last without it.
Don't mean to doom. But that bacteria is nasty..
And without an UV Light filter system. Even then its not 100%
You got three days.
Call off work and retreat to a safe water drinking area.
Good luck.
Worse come to worse....us folks here will Ship it overnight...Amazon ships it too.

S&F...I'll be watching this.

I agree with the other poster...don't wait too long...if you have friends who have access to clean water. That's not toooo far..
Have them get for you and hold it.

You have to be careful with some of algae bloom contamination, as boiling the water alone isn't sufficient to purify the water. All that agriculture runoff into the lake along with the lake's temperature produces potentially toxic cyanobacteria which in turn produce cyanotoxins that can't be treated with boiling alone.

They say heavy April showers are washing fertilizer off farm fields into the water in larger amounts, and those chemicals feed algae blooms that starve the lake of oxygen. Feeding on phosphorus, algae produces bad smells and toxins that are absorbed by underwater life, choking it off.

(source)

Phosphorus is one of the big fertilizer culprits, but the full list of chemicals that enters the lake from farms, golf course, and sewage treatment plants would make anyone cringe, then it blooms into a toxic algae bloom, along with invasive species like zebra mussels and the low oxygen content in the lake, makes it a really gross lake. The lake is really stressed to the breaking point.

originally posted by: elevatedone
I was just telling the wife, we'll wait this out a couple of hour and hope for an update on how long this is going to last.
If we need to, then yeah, travel a little ways and pick up some water somewhere.

I live in the area affected. I have well water. You are welcome to come by and fill up water jugs. I also have a
reverse osmosis so the water tastes fine. If interested, either reply or pm me. I'll keep a look out for your msg.

PS. I also have a 5 gallon water jug I could fill for you.

a reply to: Blackmarketeer

Thanks for posting this. I saw it posted here on ATS not long ago and thought it to be the culprit.
But most water authorities get the water from under ground. Not direct from lakes and rivers. Thus avoiding these calamities.
It allows for water to travel through the natural filters....rocks, sand......
And then filter the fresher water at the plants.
If this did come from the natural underground river systems...then this is a serious H@ly Sh#t!

Example... here in Pittsburgh. All the water authorities have the pump station on the river. But DO NOT GET WATER FROM THE RIVER due to pollution.
They get it another 6-800 feet below because it passes through the natural filter system and into/the underground river.

a reply to: Blackmarketeer

For me, what is most bothersome about what you posted is that it is from Canada more than a year ago. They knew and warned their people. Why didn't these people know to expect this?

a reply to: mrsdudara

These blooms have happened in the past, it used to be a much more regular occurrence, but some environmental controls were put in place during the late 90's that made an improvement, but the past few years those environmental controls have been attacked and largely removed by corporate stooges in public office. The Kasich administration in Ohio is determined to send North East Ohio back to the pollution levels of the 1960's. You do NOT want to know what that was like.

originally posted by: Blackmarketeer
You do NOT want to know what that was like.

Actually, I do. Crazy I have never heard of this happening before. Maybe more of America needs to know what is happening in order to make a change.

I am floored that this is not on the news. Edit: Just saw it on Fox news ticker... they didn't spell it right but that's ok

Wow!!!

In my area....quite a bit north of Toledo, more and more people use lawn services to fertilize their lawns...and IMHO these companies may be using chemicals in higher concentrations than is available to regular retail customers.

I know at one point, Ann Arbor Michigan banned phosphorus from their lawn fertilizers....and it is available in most garden centers these days..
Bottom line: it's not just the farmers who are to blame.
We just have to compete fore the greenest lawns

Looks like geese are also to blame
www.american-lawns.com...

Canadian geese are everywhere. Studies have shown that one adult goose will excrete 0.86 pounds of phosphorus a year, over twice the amount of organic phosphorus (0.42 pounds) in runoff from an acre of unfertilized turf, and almost three times the amount of organic phosphorus (0.3 pounds) in runoff from an acre of fertilized turf.

Do these restrictions happen every year???

I hope this problem clears itself sooner rather than later

a reply to: virraszto
Wow, that is really cool of you to offer.

originally posted by: elevatedone

The Water 'Cart-n-Basket' is ... OBSCENE!

( i.e. What is ... S.H.T.F. ? )
.

In the news conference, the Health Commissioner said any kind of filtration will not work.

a reply to: virraszto

Faith in humanity restored!

I would be on a mission to buy as much kombucha and coconut water as possible. As well as other alternative healthy hydration options. All these people buying up ALL the water may ignore that stuff?

Hope that helps somehow.