By MARK TODD
Staff Writer
mtodd@starbeacon.com
Theyre green and gooey, but the Lake Erie algae coating the Ashtabula County shoreline during recent days pose no health threats to swimmers, officials said Monday.
Water treatment is another matter, however. An extra step or two is needed to make the water smell and taste - - well, like water.
The algae are seasonal visitors, dredged from the bottom of the lake when conditions are right.
"Its basically seaweed that is going through a natural decomposition process," Mick Szabo, environmental health inspector for Ashtabulas health department, said Monday.
The green stuff is not connected to the virus that killed thousands of yellow perch this spring, officials said. Swimmers wont get sick splashing in the muck, Szabo said.
"Its more aesthetics," he said. "Some people dont like getting it in their hair."
Algae appear periodically during the year, especially when the lake is relatively calm for several days, officials said.
"We can get algae in the winter," Bill Dingledine of the American Water Co. said.
The goo seems to be most prevalent in the summer, said Harry Runnion, Conneaut water treatment plant superintendent.
"We seem to get it between the middle of June to the first of August," he said.
People arent at risk, but the algae do pose headaches for treatment plants. Lake Erie algae can add an unpleasant taste to the water, experts said.
Activated carbon, a powder, routinely is added to the treatment process when algae appear, said Dingledine. "It helps absorb (the contaminates)," he said.
Ohio American also relies on less-sophisticated methods to gauge the quality of its product when algae sprout: Workers regularly sniff and taste the water, Dingledine said.
Technicians try to intercept algae before they enter the plant, he said.
"If it gets in the system, it can cause a terrible nuisance," Dingledine said. "We try to catch it when it first comes in."
Dealing with algae is like the regions heavy snowfall: Its something people should expect from living along a Great Lake, officials said.
"It happens every time this year," Runnion said.
Dingledine agrees. "It always comes and goes," he said.
