Official: Toxin in Ottawa Co. water ‘easily treatable’

PORT CLINTON – Microcystin levels in Ottawa County water are three times higher than Toledo’s, but the toxin is still “easily treatable” and safe to drink, the county’s sanitary engineer says.

James “Kelly” Frey, sanitary engineer for Ottawa County, said the plant had an intake of 1.7 parts per billion on Tuesday afternoon, which he said was “a little higher” than Toledo.

Toledo changed its water quality status from “clear” to “watch” on Monday after microcystin was detected in the city’s water intake at a level of 0.55 parts per billion.

Blue-green algal blooms on Lake Erie have raised concerns on water quality throughout northwest Ohio after experts predicted “severe” blooms this summer containing microcystin-LR, a dangerous toxin that can cause liver and kidney damage.

A year ago, from Aug. 2 to 4, Toledo’s water was deemed undrinkable when the microcystin toxin fouled the water at the city’s treatment plant, leaving more than 400,000 people without usable water. When microcystin is above acceptable levels, the water is unsafe to consume and boiling only makes the toxin worse.

Frey said that, although there is “significant concern” over microcystin levels for Ottawa County, everything was “easily treatable” for the time being.

“We are treating it. We’re confident that, at this point, we’re able to do that,” Frey said. “It’s costly, but we can still do it.”

Frey said the Ottawa County plant meets all Environmental Protection Agency guidelines for drinking water, but he is concerned about August and September, when the algal blooms in Lake Erie are likely to pose a greater threat to water sources.

“We absolutely have concerns,” Frey said. “Anyone who has been around the lake should be concerned.”

Public awareness is key to quelling residents’ concerns and keeping them informed, Frey said. He suggested residents check the county’s website, www.co.ottawa.oh.us, where sanitary engineers post daily test results for water quality.

“Until something is done to significantly reduce the amount of nutrients going into the lake, we’ll continue to have this problem,” Frey said.

To the south, the city of Fremont’s drinking water supply remains safe and has not experienced any of the microcystin or water quality issues seen in the Toledo area, the city’s safety service director said Tuesday.

The Fremont Reservoir is filled with water from the Sandusky River.

The city built the reservoir to avoid nitrate contamination in drinking water after the river tested positive at times for high nitrate levels. Nitrates can come from fertilizer runoff and sewer plants.

If nitrate levels on the river are high, the city does not draw any water from the river into the reservoir, Mayor Jim Ellis said in a 2014 interview. If there were a harmful algal bloom, the city would stop drawing river water.

“That’s a really good thing about the reservoir,” he said. “We’re ahead of it. Toledo’s sort of stuck because you can’t treat Lake Erie.”

Fremont treats the reservoir regularly with chemicals, which Ellis said are not harmful, to avoid growth of toxic algae and other potential problems.