TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) - Consumers in Ohio's fourth-largest city may be asked to voluntarily conserve water next year to limit demand and help reduce contamination from toxins left by Lake Erie algae.
Such toxins fouled water for 400,000 people in the Toledo area last month, leaving some without clean tap water for two days.
The Blade newspaper reports the water treatment commissioner talked about the planned conservation request during a panel discussion this week. Commissioner Tim Murphy says lowering demand would allow water to be treated for longer periods of time.
He says Toledo hasn't finalized the program, which would be rolled out before the algae bloom season.
Toledo has spent millions of dollars in the past few years to get rid of the toxins in the water it draws from Lake Erie.
