By Sara Jerome,

@sarmje

Toxic algae is creating headaches for Milwaukee officials this summer.

“A professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Zilber School of Public Health found levels of a naturally occurring cyanobacteria at levels 10 times beyond the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s standards for recreational waters” in Milwaukee’s Juneau Park Lagoon, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Locals water advocates are debating the best way to confront algae on environmental waters. In Milwaukee, some officials appear to favor the use of aerators, according to the report:

Cheryl Nenn of Milwaukee Riverkeeper said she had contacted the county about the problem and was told that “aerators” were going to be used to inject oxygen into the water to, presumably, break up the algae blooms.

Nenn described the drawbacks of that approach: “Bad idea. They could actually aerosolize those microcystins, which can be inhaled and cause pulmonary issues among many others to recreational users or other residents using the park.”

The toxicity prompted officials to cancel an extreme water skiing competition and move a boating festival this month, the report said.

“The toxic algae, called microcystis, produces an odorless, colorless toxin — called microcystin — that can cause rashes and stomach illness in swimmers, and much more serious complications in people who drink contaminated water,” the report said.

Todd Miller, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Zilber School of Public Health, took the developments as a sign that stronger water quality protections are needed.

“It is a symptom of a larger problem we have with inadequate protections for water resources and improper land management,” he said, per the report.

Toledo officials banned drinking water for residents in August 2014 due to toxic algae contamination, CNN reported. That year, the bloom was not unusually large, but it was especially toxic.

Late-summer algal blooms are not uncommon. The cause is clear: nutrient pollution.

Former American Water Works Association President John Donahue described the issue in testimony to Congress.

“There is no uncertainty about one critical aspect of the problem: It is always associated with amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus in the water,” Donahue said, per Roll Call. “Although each watershed is unique and has its own mix of nutrient sources, across the nation the most prominent uncontrolled sources of nitrogen and phosphorus are non-point sources — that is, runoff. These sources are at the same time both the hardest to manage and the furthest from being subject to meaningful federal regulatory authority.”

For similar stories visit Water Online’s Nutrient Removal Solutions Center.