Syracuse and Onondaga county officials are continuing to ensure that tap water stays clear of toxins after recent tests revealed low levels of algae had infiltrated an intake pipe on Skaneateles Lake. County Director of Public Health Engineering Jeffery Till says tap water remains unaffected by the algal blooms, and residents have no need to worry.
“The city’s been able to basically increase the levels of chlorine to take care of the very low levels that we’ve gotten in the lake. We’ve taken care of those through the process such that we’re not getting any detectable levels in the finished water which is being supplied to the public.”
Like last year, the blooms peaked in late August and into September after a summer’s worth of ideal conditions for algae to grow. But algae levels persisted into early October after a warmer-than-normal September. Till says the cooler, cloudy weather means the threat will quickly disappear.
“Algal blooms thrive when there’s warmer temperatures and there’s a lot of sunlight and obviously in Syracuse, October and especially getting into November, those temperatures are going to drop off the shelf.”
So, beyond chlorination, what else can be done? A filtration system would be extremely expensive for the city to install, though it would be effective. But Till says it might not be as costly as another long-term solution…
“Like moving their intake from a fairly shallow intake to a deeper intake, but there has to be a lot of studies obviously. They’re going to have to go out there to the proposed site and look at toxin levels. Say when we’re getting a hit in the shallow area, are we getting a hit down at that deeper point? Our thought process is, you wouldn’t be just based on the characteristics of the lake itself but that’s to be seen.”
While the swimming season is over, Till says anglers should use caution until the blooms dissipate.
“We would recommend that you don’t fish simply because those fish are going to be pulled up through the algae, they’ll have the algae on them. Not only if you ingest it can you become sick, but if you get it on your hands or your skin there could be issues with that as well.”
Till says dogs also shouldn’t be allowed to swim in or drink water near an algae bloom. He’s afraid these conditions could be the new normal for all lakes, at least in low levels.