From the Daily Standard‘s Nancy Allen:
The water in Grand Lake isn’t clear and neither are the results – yet -of the recent alum pilot study.
An EPA official on Wednesday said it’s too early to form any conclusions about the test and noted improved water clarity will not be the gauge of success.
Alum was added to sites at Harmon’s Landing, the West Bank boat launch and a channel at Otterbein Retirement Community on Sept. 23 and 24. The state is trying to determine if alum (aluminum sulfate) can reduce the lake’s toxic blue-green algae by taking away its food source. Alum binds phosphorous and causes it to drop to the lake’s bottom.
"The goal is to bind the phosphorous and get it out of the water column and make it unavailable to the algae and that, in turn, should prevent future outbreaks," said Dina Pierce, Ohio EPA spokeswoman. "That won’t be known until the results are put together and the patterns are analyzed."
The alum test will take 60 days. The Ohio EPA is now gathering data on levels of phosphorous, pH, dissolved oxygen levels and water clarity. Samples also are being taken from a control site to compare treated and untreated water. Curtains installed around each of the sites will be removed in November.