A toxin in the waters of Lake Erie left the city of Toledo without drinking water over the weekend when Toledo Mayor D. Michael Collins issued a “do not drink” advisory on Saturday, Aug. 2. Roughly 100 miles southeast of Toledo, the city of Mansfield’s water supply remains uncontaminated thanks to a combination of factors explained by Mansfield Water Treatment Plant Manager Angelo Klousiadis.
“The people on Mansfield water should know there is no microcystin problem in Mansfield’s water, and they should not anticipate there being one,” said Klousiadis.
Chemists testing water at Toledo’s Collins Park Water Treatment Plant found two sample readings for microcystin in excess of the one-microgram-per-liter standard for consumption. The Federal Emergency Management Agency estimated that 500,000 people were placed under a “do not drink or boil water” advisory on Aug. 2 and 3.
On Monday, Aug. 4 Mayor Collins lifted the drinking water advisory for the city of Toledo after EPA officials and city officials determined the water was safe to drink.
Lake Erie supplies water for approximately 11 million people along its shore. In Mansfield, the city’s water is a blend of surface and ground water supplied to approximately 18,000 taps and 50,000 people, according to Klousiadis.
“We’re a dual source,” said Klousiadis. “We can supply up to 10 million gallons of water a day, and the city currently uses just under 10 million gallons a day.”
According to a 2013 water quality report, Mansfield’s water is blended using approximately 60 percent surface water and 40 percent well water, with the percent blend determined by surface water clarity, seasonal algal tastes and odors and water temperature. Surface water is supplied to the treatment plant from the 3.5 billion gallon Clearfork Reservoir. Ground water is supplied from ten municipal wells, located within 1.5 miles from the plant.
While the city of Toledo spent approximately $4 million last year on chemicals to treat its water, Klousiadis stated the city of Mansfield has a chemical fund of approximately $300,000 to $400,000 each year. The reason, he explained, is due to the city of Mansfield’s much smaller size and Toledo’s total reliance on Lake Erie for its drinking water.
“The reason Mansfield is very fortunate is we can supply 100 percent water from the reservoir, or from ground water,” said Klousiadis. “Currently it’s a blend of 60 percent reservoir to 40 percent ground water. Cities like Toledo don’t have that luxury so they have to treat that water when it comes in from Lake Erie.”
Mayor Collins blamed the contamination on algae in Lake Erie, the city’s main water supply. In Mansfield, the Water Treatment Plant has been controlling algae in the city’s drinking water since the 1970s.
“In the 70’s we had a taste and odor problem at the reservoir,” said Klousiadis. “I was sent down to The Ohio State University where they had a microbiology lab of water testing for algae, counting and numbering how many algae were in the water. We set numbers on the maximum (algae) we could allow before we go out and try to reduce those numbers using copper sulfate, a chemical that kills algae.”
Throughout the roughly 1,000-acre Clearfork Reservoir, Klousiadis said algae treatments are applied to approximately 100 acres around where water is drawn in for intake.
“We were pretty effective, we could tell if we were starting to get some kind of growth because you could smell it or taste it,” he said. “When we started the algae counting program, as soon as operators would detect an odor or taste it we’d get a call from those people.”
By proactively counting algae organisms in the reservoir and reactively using chemicals to settle the algae, this prevents Mansfield from experiencing an algae contamination problem similar to that in Lake Erie. In addition to monitoring the algae, Klousiadis noted the reservoir itself lends to decontamination.
“When we get all the rains we get in the spring, a lot of that water passes through our reservoir and forces a lot of the water out,” he explained. “So you’re always getting a blend of water or a dilution of water coming in. When you have 3.5 billion gallons of water, which isn’t very big compared to Lake Erie, you look at the overflow when we get heavy rains and a lot of algae and fish come out.
“You’re getting a lot of turnover of the water in there, so there’s a lot less chance of getting stagnant water,” Klousiadis continued. “Lake Erie, all it does is go up and down, a large body of water like that doesn’t turn over.”
Through Mansfield’s unique system of water blending, algae counting and chemical treatments, Klousiadis emphasized the improbable chance that the city will experience a contamination problem similar to Toledo.
“To say it wouldn’t ever happen, I wouldn’t say that,” he said. “But I would say it’s very unlikely.”
More information on the city of Mansfield’s water can be found on the Water Treatment Plant webpage.
