Toledo upgrades raw water from Lake Erie to ’clear’

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Toledo officials say the quality rating for water drawn from Lake Erie has been upgraded to “clear.”

The city late last week gave raw water at its water system’s intake crib a “watch” rating after an algal toxin call microcystin was detected. Officials emphasized that treated tap water for the system’s 500,000 customers was free of toxins and safe to drink.

The Blade newspaper in Toledo reports the quality rating was moved to clear Saturday.

Algal toxins contaminated Toledo’s water supply in 2014. Toledo spent $41 million in 2016 as part of a 10-year, $500 million project to upgrade its water treatment plant.

The city has been testing lake water daily after algal blooms formed in Lake Erie’s western basin in July.