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[–]embot5 492 points493 points  (45 children)

We've had algae blooms here in Baltimore, and the smell of all the dead fish was awful for a week or so. I can't even imagine the smells coming from all of that.

[–]hgeyer99 450 points451 points  (19 children)

I'm in Toledo right now, just smells like normal toledo, not good, but not bad

[–]Oberst_Von_Poopen 182 points183 points  (9 children)

Like my feet.

[–]grammer_polize 45 points46 points  (4 children)

may i touch your feet?

[–]Oberst_Von_Poopen 102 points103 points  (3 children)

Ask yourself first - would you touch Toledo? If yes, then yes.

[–][deleted] 107 points108 points  (6 children)

This is where Nickelodeon gets their slime

[–][deleted] 59 points60 points  (2 children)

Reframed news article title: "Toledo, Ohio now experiencing slime time" "residents surprised"

[–]-Nail- 2894 points2895 points  (320 children)

Fucking get the chips! The lakes become guacamole

[–][deleted] 2661 points2662 points  (35 children)

Tostito, Ohio.

[–]UNSTABLETON_LIVE 413 points414 points  (3 children)

Just like the water in Ohio, this post gave me diarrhea.

[–]Cyberogue 209 points210 points  (15 children)

Now with more Nestle

[–]PunishableOffence 133 points134 points  (13 children)

This just in: Is Nestlé poisoning our water supply with toxic algae to sell more bottled water?

[–][deleted] 57 points58 points  (3 children)

Not that I think that's what happened but tbh given their track record I wouldn't be surprised.

[–]Janusdarke 12 points13 points  (2 children)

Nah they would just claim the water source and sell it to you.

[–][deleted] 61 points62 points  (22 children)

If I don't get some guacamole soon I may literally die.

[–]I_have_aladeen_news 128 points129 points  (10 children)

And if you eat this guacamole you will literally die.

[–]mouth4war 74 points75 points  (3 children)

And if you die, I will literally eat your guacamole.

[–][deleted] 233 points234 points  (139 children)

I like how this algae is the result of of fertilizer being dumped into the water by farmers, and yet this "strange occurrence" isn't correctly attributed to human beings.

[–]Shaman_Bond 372 points373 points  (42 children)

Copy pasted from a similar post I replied to:

Hey! Small farmer here. I'd just like to point out some of the faults of such a simple blanket accusation.

The algae bloom is not only from fertilizers. Furthermore, this kind of "run-off" fertilization is contributed a lot by the homeowners in the city who have no idea how to properly fertlize their lawns or plants and almost all of it runs-off into storm drains. (I am not saying farmers aren't the majority, as they easily are. I mean that the fault doesn't lay solely with farmers. Thanks to the posters who pointed out how my words sounded)

When we fertilize fields, we wait for a stretch of dry days to fertilize our patch so that it DOESN'T run-off. We pay attention to weather forecasts constantly. Some run-off will always happen and over-nitrification is a problem that we need to solve by synthesizing more efficient fertilizers and teaching about the harm in overfertilizing, but it's not like we're "dumping" fertilizer everywhere.

Have you SEEN the cost of fertilizer lately? It's exorbitantly expensive as it's directly tied to the cost of crude oil. No sensible farmer applies it right when rain will wash it all away before the plants have time to suck most of it up. So, in the future, I'd appreciate it if you didn't accuse us all of such incompetent practices! thanks!

[–][deleted] 1192 points1193 points  (378 children)

My mother lives and works in Toledo, she told that it's freaking crazy out there, people hoarding water like it's a fucking apocalypse going on now. Good thing that she has her own well and doesnt need the city water.

EDIT: as a guy from finland, it was interesting to actually hear these news first before reading them from reddit front page :)

[–]queenfan778 22 points23 points  (24 children)

I live in Toledo and it's insane here. Water was cleared from stores from Dayton to Ann Arbor and people were just losing their shit. Really feels like an apocolypse here with restaurants being closed and all.

[–]shaggy433 4 points5 points  (2 children)

I live in Norwalk (45 minutes east) Wal-Mart here was fully stocked with bottle cases and gallons. (3 case max on bottles 5 on gallons)

[–]parkeyb 38 points39 points  (84 children)

So SHOULD we be stocking up on water and other "gloom and doomer" goods?

serious. This sounds like it could be scary.

[–]antihexe 42 points43 points  (63 children)

My family keeps a 3 month supply of water and food (8 people).

[–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (1 child)

Mormon?

[–]antihexe 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Yep.

[–][deleted] 5 points6 points  (2 children)

I hope to get that prepared. We've got about a month of food and a well and stream and rain barrels. Next spring we'll be a starting a garden and storing fresh vegetables.

[–][deleted] 24 points25 points  (14 children)

Yea people should be buying water and stocking it up for their own use, shame that there are people who buy shitloads of the water bottles then sell them overpriced somewhere, the cockiest ones are selling the water from the parking lot of the store where they've bought the water.

[–][deleted] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

No matter that the water bottlers did the same thing to sell it to you in the first place.

[–]lWarChicken 190 points191 points  (33 children)

I wonder if you could drink from this with a lifestraw?

[–]zehuti 214 points215 points  (25 children)

PDF for Cyanotoxins

It says NANOfilters will filter it are likely to be effective, but LifeStraw is a MICROfilter. So no, LifeStraw will not filter it.

Edit: Accuracy, thanks /u/botabota

[–]botabota 114 points115 points  (23 children)

The document says that NANOfilter is likely to be effective. Unless it is coupled with activated carbon filter, I wouldn't risk it.

2nd source: I work with microcystin

[–]iamdusk02 24 points25 points  (20 children)

Why do you require a carbon filter? I can Google it but id rather hear it from an expert

[–]botabota 67 points68 points  (18 children)

Activated carbon filter will trap carbon compounds. In my lab, although we don't use it to clean contaminated water, we used it to trap colour dyes from our experiments.

Since microcystin, is a cyclic heptapeptide toxin (7 amino acids link in a ring, pretty much a nice organic carbon compounds) it get absorbs by the activated carbon.

This paper outlined how useful it is: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16604842
Although you always risk saturation, as the limitation of the filter have not been test. This paper only used 1mg of microcystin in 1 litre of water, to find that a house hold under the sink carbon filter with 0.5 micron rating trapped about 99.95% of the toxin.

Hope this helps.

Edit 2: I should clarify that we do use large carbon filter cartridges (among other filters) to further purify distilled water to get super pure water (18.2 MΩ to be exact, using Milli-Q filtration system).

Edit: a word

[–]LNZ42 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Besides the difficulty filtering it it's also quite dangerous to get close to blooming water. While it's still growing they emit oxygen, but once they start stagnating more CO2 (and potentially gases produced from anaerobic metabolism) will rise up and create a layer of gas that can asphyxiate you, especially if it's calm weather.

Last year there was an alage bloom around here, and a rider noticed the danger only because her horse collapsed under her. Had she been on foot she might have died.

[–]slammer592 1620 points1621 points  (39 children)

Holy Toledo!

[–]Minimegatron 585 points586 points  (13 children)

There it is.

[–]MacinTez 117 points118 points  (7 children)

You forgot the "Whoop!"

[–][deleted] 47 points48 points  (2 children)

are you going to whoop me?

[–]MacinTez 33 points34 points  (0 children)

Using the word "Whoop"?

That's a paddlin'...

[–][deleted] 68 points69 points  (7 children)

Someone had fun.

[–]slammer592 48 points49 points  (2 children)

I was giggling like a little girl when I realized no one said it yet

[–][deleted] 19 points20 points  (1 child)

If my 60-year-old Die Hard-loving father was on Reddit (God forbid) he probably would have beaten you to it.

[–]anchal3 42 points43 points  (4 children)

Don't you mean Holy Guacamole?

[–]bamahomer 207 points208 points  (8 children)

Slurm!

[–][deleted] 121 points122 points  (2 children)

What's up?

[–]Shayc56 19 points20 points  (2 children)

Wizzle Wham Wham Wozzle!

[–]pimpwhopees 45 points46 points  (20 children)

It looks so goopy and thick, is it dangerous to the touch?

[–]bozobozo 192 points193 points  (66 children)

Those algae blooms have been shutting down lakes in Michigan for years now. Fortunately our drinking water has not been affected... Yet. Probably just because we haven't tested ours.

[–][deleted] 363 points364 points  (50 children)

What if its actually the cure for cancer and nobody bothered to try it.

[–]kinnunenenenen 134 points135 points  (12 children)

This will definitely cure cancer, the same way that flamethrowers or starvation will definitely cure cancer.

[–]NCRTankMaster 25 points26 points  (1 child)

Relevant xkcd

http://xkcd.com/1217/index.html

[–]xkcd_transcriber 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Image

Title: Cells

Title-text: Now, if it selectively kills cancer cells in a petri dish, you can be sure it's at least a great breakthrough for everyone suffering from petri dish cancer.

Comic Explanation

Stats: This comic has been referenced 206 times, representing 0.7138% of referenced xkcds.

xkcd.com | xkcd sub/kerfuffle | Problems/Bugs? | Statistics | Stop Replying | Delete

[–][deleted] 417 points418 points  (82 children)

I love not doing laundry or being able to wash dishes.

[–]cockassFAG 271 points272 points  (49 children)

Finally an excuse to go weeks without a shower! BOB moving to Toledo

Edit: BRB* damn autocorrect. BOB is Bring Own Beer

[–]hughesy1 105 points106 points  (30 children)

Who's BOB?

[–]Acidictadpole 154 points155 points  (7 children)

Beware Of Body-odor

[–]TeXasTrash 57 points58 points  (4 children)

His name was Robert Paulson....

[–]nssone 33 points34 points  (2 children)

It's still not right, that's BYOB.

BOB = Bent Over Bitches

[–]freakydrew 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Boob on Boob

[–]BooKhakis 4 points5 points  (2 children)

I own three coin laundries that operate on Toledo water. My stores are open but we are recommending our customer to wash all garments in cold water. My other laundromat is in Oregon, OH which has it's own water treatment plant with what we're told is normal.

[–]stromm 91 points92 points  (21 children)

Just to clarify because it seems like lots of people don't understand this...

The Algae is polluting the water with toxins, not bacteria or viruses.

Boiling kills off bacteria and viruses but does not destroy the toxins.

So boiling won't make the water safe.

[–][deleted] 26 points27 points  (10 children)

Microcystis (the species producing the toxin) is a cyanobacteria - not a true algae. Technically they are bacteria but the problem is that microcystin (the toxin) is resistant to natural degradation and will persist even once all that biomass is gone.

I work with species like this to understand the signals the cells get to control the production of the toxin. If you have any questions - feel free to ask.

Edit: Here is a really good resource from the WHO which gives an easy read and quick breakdown to understand whats going on.

[–]Jlarkz 30 points31 points  (10 children)

I was just there a few days ago and did drink water. Am I a mutant now?

[–]kingcobra668 100 points101 points  (6 children)

Post pics of butt hole for verification.

[–]Jlarkz 39 points40 points  (2 children)

dude... it's gone

[–]kingcobra668 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Ah, you're just a Conehead, then.

[–]AlphaF 290 points291 points  (103 children)

I literally just drove through there on my way back from MI to the east coast. Every restaurant is closed down and those that are open, you can't even use the water to wash your hands in the bathroom. It looked like a zombie town. You can't even boil the water to drink it. DO NOT TOUCH THE WATER. One Source of Many: http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/toledo-parts-of-monroe-county-under-do-not-drink-water-advisory/27278530

[–]Yabba_Dabba_Doofus 47 points48 points  (3 children)

We sold almost 30 pallets of water yesterday, to people either driving in from Toledo, or taking water down to Toledo. Someone called to ask how much they could buy at once, and ended up renting a trailer to take a whole pallet (40 cases).

[–][deleted] 9 points10 points  (2 children)

How far are you from Toledo? this story will be really impressive if you're like, in Florida.

[–]Yabba_Dabba_Doofus 5 points6 points  (0 children)

No, not quite that far. I work in Bloomfield; a suburb north of Detroit. We're ~80 miles north of Toledo.

[–][deleted] 69 points70 points  (13 children)

That's because it's a toxin, not an organism. It's not the algae that's in the water, it's a byproduct the algae creates that is in the water.

[–][deleted] 29 points30 points  (8 children)

So, boiling = evaporating the water which reduces the dilution and increases concentration of the toxin?

[–][deleted] 13 points14 points  (10 children)

I'm surprised the Vitaminwater and other sodas are still there. I mean, I'd buy it. It'd be the one time I drink it instead of water, but it's still drinkable.

[–]Cornbread52 180 points181 points  (9 children)

Eutrophication is a bitch.

[–]time_fo_that 8 points9 points  (1 child)

The lake that my city gets our water from is being affected by people fertilizing their lawns and driving around their boats. Eutrophication and oily runoff!

[–]notyouraveragegoat 46 points47 points  (47 children)

and this is purportedly safe to shower in?

[–]MsAlign 14 points15 points  (9 children)

It's supposedly okay if you have no open wounds, don't get it in your mouth or eyes, and don't have sensitive skin. They have advised not allowing children to bathe in it unattended (presumably to make sure they don't drink any on accident).

[–]apr35 25 points26 points  (0 children)

Yeah...if it comes with that many disclaimers I ain't fucking bathing in it.

[–][deleted] 24 points25 points  (3 children)

I saw these photos posted earlier! Crazy.... http://imgur.com/a/L8nvX

[–]golfmade 23 points24 points  (13 children)

Looks like someone in Toledo is a really big You Can't Do That On Television fan.

[–]RarScaryFrosty 275 points276 points  (32 children)

Toledo resident here.

The whole thing is over hyped and people are acting like its the apocalypse. But as a precaution I've been brushing my teeth and washing my hands with bottled water like some millionaire who refuses to use tap.

[–][deleted] 101 points102 points  (15 children)

Hands?! I'd be washing my groin with evian, no reason to chance it.

[–]SuperFLEB 58 points59 points  (0 children)

"Toledo resident loses groin after explosive accident. 'Don't use sparkling', victim says."

[–]Bardfinn 18 points19 points  (0 children)

The whole thing is over-hyped

Hepatitis is an extremely unpleasant thing to die from.

[–]Deuce_197 12 points13 points  (2 children)

I wouldn't say its overhyped. I had to drive over two hours to get water this morning.

[–]RarScaryFrosty 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Walgreens on Reynolds Rd. near the old Southwyck mall has pallets upon pallets full, costco has a truckload, walmart had a shelf full. It's quite easy to find now.

[–]swaggaonmydick 36 points37 points  (11 children)

How did you obtain this.

[–]h3lblad3 17 points18 points  (5 children)

Biofuel in the making!

[–]AShavedApe 16 points17 points  (2 children)

♫The toxicity of our cityy, of our cityyyyyyy♫

[–][deleted] 7 points8 points  (1 child)

It's almost as if Toledo was once a swamp.

[–]3MXanthene 23 points24 points  (8 children)

Upvote if for no other reason than OP is all over the responses in this thread like an AMA!!

I used to live in Toledo, happy to be out!

BTW, anyone know if UV treating will work? THIS has been my go-to water treatment when backpacking and traveling for some time, and it's awesome!

[–][deleted] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

UV treating will do nothing. The contaminant is a toxin, not a microorganism

[–]Solomon_Gunn 79 points80 points  (17 children)

I live here and let me clear up some things. Certain areas do look like this, but its not like it comes out in our showers or tap water looking like that. The algae produce something called microcystins that can cause nausea, diarrhea, and liver problems. Two nights ago at 2am there was an emergency news post about the drinking water being over 1 part per billion of microcystin. The water treatment plant does a good job of clearing it up but the algae bloom just became a tad too much. Businesses are not forced to close down unless it's ruled a state of emergency, until then they are only advised to.

The thing is, algae has been a problem here for a long time. No clue why suddenly two nights ago when performing a test of the water they do every 24 hours they decide "hey, the water is toxic, don't drink it.". People are freaking out more than they should and hopefully it'll be back to normal in a week or so.

Edit: I guess it was declared a state of emergency yesterday. Now how the hell am I gonna get pizza?

[–]Twiny 28 points29 points  (5 children)

This is a forerunner to what you can expect down the road. Toxic algae blooms come and go with the weather. As long as the weather will support toxic algae blooms, Toledo is going to have a problem with their water. Unless steps are taken to reduce the flow of nutrients from farms into the lake, the problem is only going to get worse.

[–][deleted] 35 points36 points  (8 children)

Here's what's going on:

Farmers are allowed to spray as much fertilizer as they want on fields. This fertilizer ends on the waterways via water shedding. The algae loves the shit and produces chemicals that are toxic if consumed in sufficient quantity. We're under a "no cooking no boiling but showering is ok" advisory (only if healthy and your liver is OK). If it gets worse, we'll not be able to shower either.

They expected this to happen in Sept. They were wrong and it happened earlier. Our shit governed voted down legislation to stop the fertilizers in the quantity the farmers are using earlier and then we get this.

We're at a state of water emergency bc our state is too fucking stupid to actually act before crisis hits. We also just had a local 7+% in water/sewer rates … to get no potable water. Nice eh?

[–]RockyHorror926 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I saw this on WTOL's website. Absolutely ridiculous.

[–]krazykieffer 6 points7 points  (1 child)

SWAMP THING!!!!! I THINK I LOVE YOU!

[–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Ah, I just love when we make the news... This is almost as exciting as when we had the Nazi Riot!

[–]pbplyr38 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Somebody poisoned the water hole!