Taming Toxic Algae Blooms
نویسنده
چکیده
The trouble began for Toledo, Ohio, in the spring of 2014, when extreme storms washed an unusually high pulse of nutrients into Lake Erie. By late summer, a massive bloom of blue-green algae, otherwise known as cyanobacteria, had shut down the city’s drinking water system. Powered by nutrients from agricultural runoff and the warm, calm summer waters, the algae spread across the lake and slowly began releasing toxins into the water. The most common of these, microcystin, showed up at levels of 2.5 μg/L, exceeding the safe threshold of 1 μg/L set by the World Health Organization (WHO). The city has been spending $3 million to $4 million per year treating the water supply.
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