CASTAIC RESERVOIR TO BE TREATED WITH ALGAE-KILLING CHEMICAL.Byline: Patricia Farrell Aidem Daily News Staff Writer Castaic Lake's main reservoir will be treated with a chemical next week to kill algae algae (ăl`jē) [plural of Lat. alga=seaweed], a large and diverse group of primarily aquatic plantlike organisms. These organisms were previously classified as a primitive subkingdom of the plant kingdom, the thallophytes (plants that growing rampant in the summerlike heat and threatening to add an unpleasant taste and odor to much of the Southland's water supply. While the algae does not harm drinking water drinking water supply of water available to animals for drinking supplied via nipples, in troughs, dams, ponds and larger natural water sources; an insufficient supply leads to dehydration; it can be the source of infection, e.g. leptospirosis, salmonellosis, or of poisoning, e.g. , it can create a musty taste and smell, John Kemp John Kemp (c. 1380 – March 22 1454) was an English cardinal, archbishop of Canterbury, and chancellor. Biography He was son of Thomas Kemp, a gentleman of Ollantigh, in the parish of Wye near Ashford, Kent. , a water quality supervisor for the state Department of Water Resources, said Thursday. The Water Resources Department and the Metropolitan Water District suggested the treatment, a helicopter drop next Thursday of 15,000 pounds of copper sulfate copper sulfate, common name for the blue crystalline heptahydrate of cupric sulfate, in which copper has valence +2. It may also refer to cuprous sulfate (Cu2SO4), in which copper has valence +1. pellets into the reservoir. ``There's no problem, but this is an algae that gives off a little taste and odor to the water if it gets into the system,'' MWD MWD Metropolitan Water District of Southern California MWD Measurement While Drilling (oil drilling) MWD Morgan Stanley Dean Witter (stock symbol) MWD Molecular Weight Distribution MWD Military Working Dog spokesman Rob Hallwachs said. ``At this point, the algae is near the top of the reservoir and the water that we're receiving out of Castaic is being taken far below.'' Kemp said the algae is fast-growing and the treatment is routine. The Castaic site was similarly treated in June 1995 after complaints from customers of the Castaic Lake Castaic Lake is a lake on Castaic Creek formed by Castaic Dam, in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, near the town of Castaic. The 323,700 acre foot lake (399,000,000 m³) is the terminus of the West Branch of the California Aqueduct, though some comes from the 154 mi² Water Agency of an ``earthy'' taste and smell to tap water. ``It's a concern to us, but it's being monitored,'' Kemp said. The state Department of Fish and Game and the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County Department of Parks and Recreation will monitor the treatment to check its effects on plants and fish and to ensure the water is safe for boaters and others who use the lake for recreation. The algae has turned the surface water of the reservoir a greenish brown, but treated drinking water remains clear, Kemp said. Copper sulfate dissolves and does not affect drinking water, he said. Dwayne Maxwell, a senior biologist with the Fish and Game Department, said copper sulfate can be toxic to fish, particularly the eggs and the younger fish. The chemical will not harm people who eat fish from a treated lake, Maxwell said. ``There is no concern to people fishing,'' he said. ``Copper is one of those metals that builds down in the food chain, not like mercury, which works the opposite way. It'll likely dissolve or end up at the bottom of the lake in sediments.'' |
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