Toledo celebrates Earth Day with drinking water treatment plant improvements

Toledo Mayor Paula Hicks-Hudson joined Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Director Craig W. Butler today to celebrate Earth Day and announce planned improvements to the local drinking water treatment plant.

“Clean drinking water is essential and we need to take care of Earth’s resources in order to take care of ourselves. Today, we celebrate Earth Day and our commitment to protect Lake Erie and the resources it provides for all,” Butler said.

The upgrades to Toledo’s water treatment plant will allow it to better remove harmful algal blooms with financing provided in the form of two interest-free loans from the Ohio EPA, one for $5.14 million and one for just under $1.5 million. The first will fund the plant’s physical improvements, while the second will focus on research that will help Toledo and other communities improve efficiency. The loans will come from the Ohio EPA’s Water Supply Revolving Loan Account, which was created in 1998 to help water systems, whether run by communities or non-profits, get the compliance improvements they need.

“We are pleased to be able to provide the cite affordable funding for important work that, when complete, will immediately improve the city’s drinking water treatment system,” Butler said.