Ohio Sea Grant Research Keeps Tap Water Safer from Harmful Algal Blooms
In the aftermath of the 2014 harmful algal bloom (HAB) in Lake Erie, which left residents in the city of Toledo without drinking water, there’s been a lot of activity around making sure something similar doesn’t happen again. Water treatment plants have added additional testing for the algal toxin microcystin that caused Toledo’s water shutdown, scientists are monitoring HABs as they develop, and backup intakes let larger plants avoid pulling in potentially contaminated water altogether.
But remembering the news reports of people stuck without water for days, some concerned citizens may still wonder “what if?”