11/29/2023
WT Staff
HAPPENING NOW
West Alexandria BWA
OEPA confirms schools removed from public drinking water list
Wednesday, November 29, 2023 - last updated 4:07 pm EST
Drinking Water matters
West Alexandria has issued a BWA following repair of a leaking valve yesterday afternoon. Water customers are advised to boil water until further notice.
Sensitive population advisory for fluoride lifted at Grover Hill Elementary and Marion Local Highschool
WTOH asked the OEPA to confirm the long term public drinking water advisories for Grover Hill Elementary School and Marion Local Highschool officially rescinded. The schools had been listed with long term sensitive person advisories for fluoride levels in excess of the maximum contaminant level dating back to 2016 and 2018, respectively.
OEPA spokesperson Dina Pierce confirms, "You are correct that the fluoride advisories have been lifted for both of these schools. When public water systems are under advisories, it means the fluoride levels exceed 2.0 milligrams per liter (mg/L). With that being said, the most recent sample taken at Marion Local High School in 2021 was 1.44 mg/L. The most recent sample at Gover Hill Elementary School in 2022 was also below 2.0 at 1.89 mg/L. Advisories for both schools were lifted soon after those samples were taken, but the website was only recently updated to reflect the change. The fluoride in both systems is naturally occurring, meaning neither intentionally add the mineral."
Pierce went on to say that even though the test values are down, "the work is not complete. Samples at each of these schools, per compliance rules, will continue to be taken every three years."
Streamflow Situation from USGS Waterwatch based on real time flow monitors across Ohio
Two gages are registering low flows Wednesday morning in the west Lake Erie basin. Maumee River at Waterville station is capturing 99th percentile record low flow values today, running a depth of 1.55 feet and 162 cubic feet per second. Considering the total surface area running off to the Maumee River by Waterville is 6330 square miles, indicates a serious drought in the watershed to produce such a small flow. Incidentally, the Auglaize River watershed, a major tributary of the Maumee River has jumped from moderate to severe drought rating overnight. The low water levels may certainly be contributing cause to the HAB at Birmingham (Editor's note: earlier reported as Binghamton) in the Maumee River, a phenomenon not seen until recently.
Streamflow monitors are still recording below normal to much below normal volumes and depth across the west side of the state, including south of the divide in the Great Miami River basin of the Mississppi system. Great Miami River is flowing low again this morning at Troy, as we saw yesterday afternoon.
East and central Ohio streamflows are trending down with more stations reporting below normal today, three stations much below normal.
Drought situation from USGS Waterwatch 7-day average streamflow compared with historic flow for this date
Auglaize River watershed has dropped to the severe rating, with Lower Maumee River watershed still showing up as moderate drought Wednesday morning. Rain in the forecast Friday night may bring relief to the widespread drought, now taking up the adjacent Lake Erie basin watersheds St Mary's, St. Josephs, Upper Maumee and Tiffin River.
Across the divide, the Great Miami River drainage basin remains below normal Wednesday morning from headwaters in Darke County to the outlet at Hamilton County. Up to 90% chance of rain tomorrow night may fill the streams, more to follow.
The height-of-land divide in Ohio runs from Mercer County in the west angling northeast up to Ashtabula County on the east state border. Streamflows north of the divide feed Lake Erie, flows south of the divide run to the Ohio River, part of the Mississippi River basin that drains the majority of interior North America to the Gulf of Mexico.
As the drought conditions shift and change in the Ohio River basin, track the effects south down the Mississippi River into to Louisiana, rated "Exceptional Drought", the highest category on the National Drought map. Visit WTLA.us for more information on downstream effects.
Harmful Algal Bloom update based on the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) satellite monitoring program
NCCOS latest satellite image of west basin Lake Erie was captured November 28 at a wind speed of 23.7 mph. This image offers a clear view of the west and southwest Lake Erie shore including Maumee Bay and the inner area of Sandusky Bay with cloud obscuring the view of outer Sandusky Bay and east.
North Maumee Bay HABs are evident as small localized blooms along the shoreline matching a moderate concentration 100 thousand cells per 100 ml or less. Localized HABs continue along Michigan shore becoming widespread around Detroit and Lake Erie Metropark. In Toledo, the Birmingham HAB is not visible due to cloud cover. A small localized HAB sits along shore at Maumee Bay State Park Niles Beach, a small HAB is visible on the east side of Cedar Point National Wildlife Refuge, all HABs are moderate concentration, 100 thousand cells per 100 ml or less. Small localized blooms continue along shore Reno Beach and Metzger Marsh inland water body. Magee Marsh Wildlife area off shore HAB is showing between the clouds, having shifted north in open water out to the islands. Catawba Island east side inland water bodies HAB is visible between clouds, all at around the same concentration of 100 thousand cells per 100 ml. A bloom seen along shore between Camp Perry and Port Clinton on Nov 25 appears to have shifted off shore, visible between clouds at 100 thousand cells per 100 ml.
Two small open water HABs show up in the inner bay area of Sandusky Bay at 100 thousand cells per 100 ml. Beyond Bayview, clouds obscure our view of the lake.
Public drinking water facilities are still monitoring algal toxin in raw drinking water obtained from surface water sources as per the OEPA standard bi-weekly testing until the first full week of December. Total microcystins test results above the minimum reporting threshold are posted on Ohio Drinking Water Watch.
Hazardous Spills Hotline updated as reported to OEPA 1-800-282-9378
An unknown amount of blue material is reported spilled into an unnamed water body off Portage Lakes Drive in Akron yesterday. A pond and channel leading into Long Lake is relatively close to the reported spill site, as is North Reservoir and Portage Lake Fishing Pond. OEPA has been asked for details. More to follow.
Anyone with knowledge of a spill is legally obliged to report immediately to local authorities or the OEPA spill hotline, any day of the week at any time. The spiller or responders in control of a spill on site will be ideally follow protocol for containment and handling of hazardous materials to minimize impact on waterways, including preventing escape down storm drains or tile drains. WTOH.us reports spills as the incident reports are released by the OEPA to bring awareness to events with potential to impact drinking water sources.
See the CWA Crimebox for historic criminal convictions involving hazardous spills deliberate and accidental discharges, where the responsible parties have included top level executives and business owners, supervisors and employees, along with the fines, probation and even jail time for knowingly or negligently discharging contaminants without a permit to do so.
WTOH.us brings incident reports as recorded by the Ohio EPA spill line staff, and seeks additional details from Ohio EPA spokespeople as required. Check the pink location tags on the map with the watershed layer, labels and arrows switched on to see the area potentially impacted by the spill.
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