Controlling cyanobacteria and killing zebra mussels urgent topics at Ohio conference
Controlling Cyanobacteria and killing zebra mussels will be discussed at annual gathering of water management professionals in Toledo.
TOLEDO, Ohio – Controlling cyanobacteria and killing zebra mussels will be high on the agenda when the Ohio chapter of the American Water Works Association (OAWWA) holds its annual meeting in Toledo this month. Toledo issued a “Do not drink” advisory to half-a-million residents for nearly three days in August of 2014. Since then, the city has become a poster child for water quality problems in a state plagued by harmful cyanobacteria blooms.
Hordes of invasive zebra mussels only worsen the state’s water woes. Zebra mussels feed on algae but reject cyanobacteria. Their presence in Lake Erie may contribute to increasingly severe cyanobacteria blooms. Zebra mussels are also notorious for clogging intake screens and pipelines at water treatment plants. Controlling cyanobacteria and killing zebra mussels at these structures are urgent water security issues.
One option for water treatment plant operators facing these challenges is a liquid-copper solution called EarthTec®. “Copper is deadly to cyanobacteria and zebra mussels alike,” said Fred Singleton, Senior Scientist at Earth Science Laboratories. “EarthTec’s unique chemistry delivers copper very efficiently at very low doses. It kills cyanobacteria and zebra mussels without harming other aquatic life or degrading water quality.”
EarthTec Regional Manager Paul Besenti will lead an informal education session on cyanobacteria control and zebra mussel eradication at the OAWWA conference. He will also be on hand to discuss the newly formed Cyanobacteria Response Team and Zebra Mussel Emergency Response Program. Both initiatives offer site surveys and other services to water treatment plants implementing measures to control cyanobacteria and kill zebra mussels.
More information on the OAWWA annual conference can be found at
https://oawwa.site-ym.com/page/conference.
Earth Science Laboratories Inc. manufactures EarthTec for cyanobacteria control and EarthTec® QZ for killing zebra mussels. EarthTec and EarthTec QZ are EPA registered, NSF Certified to ANSI Standard 60 as additives to drinking water, and approved for use in open water or in pipelines. Information on EarthTec and the Cyanobacteria Response Team is available at earthtecwatertreatment.com. Information on EarthTec QZ and the Zebra Mussel Emergency Response Program is available at earthtecqz.com.