400,000 Ohio/Michigan residents without water

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workinwifdakids
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400,000 Ohio/Michigan residents without water

Post by workinwifdakids »

“Costco was like a war zone, and they were limiting to like five cases,” he said.
Ohio water from Lake Erie contaminated Microcystin has found its way into residential water supplies, rendering all water supplies unsafe to nearly a half million people in two states.
From USA Today:
Hours after news of the contamination surfaced, Gov. John Kasich declared a state of emergency for Lucas County and the greater Toledo area and deployed the resources of the National Guard to get water to the area. News of the contaminated water touched off a shopping frenzy at area stores for bottled water and bags of ice. Shelves were emptied of bottles and other water supplies, as residents prepared for the worst.
Another reminder to make sure you have enough of a most precious commodity on hand.
Officials said the water is not for drinking or cooking but healthy adults could still use the water for bathing. They warned children not to bathe or swim in it, as they might drink the water accidentally. Residents were warned not to boil the water because it will only increase the toxin's concentration.
And literally a week ago, the irony, it burns:
Even at higher levels, water plants in Oregon and Toledo — two of the most sophisticated in the region — have many safeguards in place to neutralize the toxin and remove it before it can get into the public water supply, officials said. Plant operators are not required to test for microcystin, even though scientists now place it between arsenic and dioxin in terms of its toxicity. Microcystin is capable of killing humans or at least making them sick in large doses.
Apparently the Governor appointed a new state EPA director in February, last week he says the annual summer algae blooms on Lake Erie have always been concerning, but they're no big deal. Whoops.

On a side note, I've researched, but thus far have come up empty. Anyone with better Google-Fu know how to treat water contaminated with Microcystin?
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Yogimus
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Re: 400,000 Ohio/Michigan residents without water

Post by Yogimus »

Guessing that water is no less safe today as it was last week
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randy
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Re: 400,000 Ohio/Michigan residents without water

Post by randy »

workinwifdakids wrote: Anyone with better Google-Fu know how to treat water contaminated with Microcystin?
I haven't researched it but I would think distillation (heat water to steam, collect steam in another, uncontaminated container) would do the trick. the steam leaves behind any containants I'm aware of and recondenses into drinkable water.

In-laws had a home distillation unit (table top sized) some years ago but went to bottled as being more convenient when it finally died after years of use.
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rightisright
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Re: 400,000 Ohio/Michigan residents without water

Post by rightisright »

EPA page: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q= ... 7243,d.aWw

Page 5 starts discussing treatment options.

pdf warning
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workinwifdakids
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Re: 400,000 Ohio/Michigan residents without water

Post by workinwifdakids »

Here's a thread on Reddit I just found. Most of the time it's left-wing bullshit or ignorant pontificating, but the first-person accounts can be informative.
And may I say, from a moral point of view, I think there can be no justification for shoving snack cakes up your action.
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Aesop
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Re: 400,000 Ohio/Michigan residents without water

Post by Aesop »

Yogimus wrote:Guessing that water is no less safe today as it was last week
That's a potentially fatal mistake in the affected region. Cyanotoxins are some of the most potent natural toxins on the planet.
Water contaminated with cyanobacteria can occur without associated taste and odor problems.
And Randy nailed it: the way to purify water contaminated with them would be to distill it and capture the steam, or feed it into a solar still and let the sun do the same work. (While digging a temporary solar still in a survival situation is generally a net waste of sweat, if one has purpose-built one or more such devices from hardier materials, like metal and glass, into a more permanent water purification device, it would be priceless in such a situation.)

There's no other way, AFAIK, to remove it from the water that's suitable for personal use.
The options the EPA lists are iffy, toxin-specific, and require a treatment plant, and budget measured in megadollars.
And even at that, they basically say that if a utility company has a secondary source, to basically just switch sources until the bloom ends on its own.
(Our ever-helpful government's version of "Run away!")

Also, the problem is mainly the headless chickening around Toledo. Everyone there has gone batshit, while cities and towns an hour away are unaffected, and fire stations are pumping potable water for the asking to anyone coming by.

Which shows you how totally unprepared and generally fuckwitted for the slightest disruption folks can be.
And this is on a Saturday. Apparently firing up the jalopy and going on a mini-vacay for the weekend to someplace where things are fine never occurs to people. :roll:
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HTRN
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Re: 400,000 Ohio/Michigan residents without water

Post by HTRN »

randy wrote:
workinwifdakids wrote: Anyone with better Google-Fu know how to treat water contaminated with Microcystin?
I haven't researched it but I would think distillation (heat water to steam, collect steam in another, uncontaminated container) would do the trick. the steam leaves behind any containants I'm aware of and recondenses into drinkable water.

In-laws had a home distillation unit (table top sized) some years ago but went to bottled as being more convenient when it finally died after years of use.
VERY energy intensive. a RO "watermaker" is just as effective, and they even make hand powered ones for boaters.

A simpler setup is good filtering on incoming house lines - a basic "whole house" filter on the line coming in(reduces fine particulate) and then a really good "drinking water tap" on the kitchen sink that uses ultrafine pleated membranes and a carbon block filter, would just about do it. If you're then still worried, a homemade "big berkey" filter, and then run through a RO watermaker would pretty much turn anything into potable water.
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Aesop
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Re: 400,000 Ohio/Michigan residents without water

Post by Aesop »

Not cyanotoxins.
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HTRN
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Re: 400,000 Ohio/Michigan residents without water

Post by HTRN »

Aesop wrote:Not cyanotoxins.
Carbon block filters will remove almost all Microcystin from the water, at least according to the NIH.
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Aesop
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Re: 400,000 Ohio/Michigan residents without water

Post by Aesop »

From the EPA .pdf rightisright linked to:
Membranes
Depends on the material, membrane pore size distribution, and water quality. Nanofiltration and ultrafiltration are likely effective in removing extracellular microcystin. Reverse osmosis filtration would likely only be applicable for removal of some extracellular cyanotoxins like cylindrospermopsin. Cell lysis is highly likely. Further research is needed to characterize performance.
Activated Carbon
PAC: Most types are generally effective for removal of microcystin, anatoxin-a and cylindrospermopsin, especially wood-based activated carbon.
GAC: Effective for microcystin but less effective for anatoxin-a and cylindrospermopsins.

Jar tests are recommended to test the effectiveness of various PAC types, with the implementation of the carbon with the greatest capacity for removal of the target contaminants. GAC filters are effective in removing microcystins if they are properly replaced or regenerated when total organic carbon breakthrough is high. Usually, higher concentrations of activated carbon are necessary to effectively remove toxins; repeated treatment may be needed to totally remove the toxins completely.
They also note that activated charcoal works. Until it becomes saturated, at which point it doesn't anymore.
If one wishes to use their own liver as the canary in that mine, they should go right on ahead.
It will decrease the future burden on the Social Security system, much the same way that smoking does.

If there were a relatively simple and efficacious way to solve this, the Toledo Dept. of Public Utilities wouldn't be shitting kittens, and their entire city wouldn't be in panic mode.
Last edited by Aesop on Sun Aug 03, 2014 2:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
"There are four types of homicide: felonious, accidental, justifiable, and praiseworthy." -Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"
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