After I dropped off my daughter, I headed to Kroger. It was even more of a madhouse than usual on a Saturday morning. Signs taped to the door announced they were out of bottled water. The under-the-sprinkler produce had disappeared. People loaded carts full of Gatorade. I frowned. Maybe this water advisory was a bigger deal than I thought.
I went home and listened to the news. Apparently, algae blooms released microcystins (toxins) into the water. Most of this area relies on Lake Erie for our water supply, and the part of Lake Erie is a large basin that can get stagnant in warm, non-windy conditions. The algae blooms are made worse with rain because fertilizer from fields runs off. Basically, it's a big, complicated mess and makes my head spin. Here's more info, "Toledo-Area Water Advisory."
When cross country practice was over, we packed the car for a day trip to Put-In-Bay, a super-fun island on Lake Erie. It drizzled all morning, but the weather forecast said no rain. Thirty minutes from the ferry, it down-poured. The sky had that it's-going-to-rain-all-day look. We cancelled our golf-cart reservation and drove around Port Clinton instead. We found a restaurant for lunch and figured if the rain let up we could still catch a ferry to the island. It didn't let up, so we headed over to Huron, Ohio, an adorable seaside town we used to live in years ago. We stopped at a drugstore and bought their last three jugs of water. Bottled water was running out everywhere!
So the rain ruined our day plans, and the toxic water ruined everything else. All weekend my stomach felt funny. I blame it on my toxic water coffee, but it's probably just due to me running around so much this week. :)
I hope the water advisory is lifted soon!!
Do you have a well or city water? Have you ever dealt with a water advisory?
Have a terrific day!
