Algae-detection buoys on the look out for toxic blooms - UPI.com

Algae-detection buoys on the look out for toxic blooms - UPI.com: "TOLEDO, Ohio, April 13 (UPI) -- While NASA satellites monitor algae blooms from above, scientists in Ohio will keep an eye on the toxic blooms from ground level -- or more accurately, from water level.
Last summer, the people of Toledo and northwest Ohio went without tap water and showers for two days. Health officials were forced to shut off the water supply from Lake Erie after an algae bloom threatened to leak a liver toxin into the system. Residents had to rely on bottled water. Restaurants were shut down during the height of tourist season.

This year, researchers and health officials are on the lookout for the makings of another episode. As spring rains continue to wash fertilizers off farmlands and into the streams and rivers that funnel into Lake Erie, mats of algae are likely to grow in size.

While environmental groups, scientists and policy makers fight to curb agricultural runoff, researchers on the water will be monitoring what seems like the inevitable. Using a series of algae-sensing buoys, researchers will keep an eye on chemical changes in the water. The floating sensors will feed water quality information to local water treatment plants and area science labs."



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