MIDDLETOWN – DPW crews in Middletown had to snap into action quickly this week when an algae bloom was found in the Monhagen Reservoir, the city’s main feeder water source.
The discovery was made on Wednesday with crews switching over to the Highland Reservoir.
While the city was moving to remediate that problem, Public Works Commissioner Jacob Tawil said it points up an important factor.
“The city should continue to purchase watershed to make sure we have nothing but clean runoff to go in there so we don’t have to worry about algae blooms and other contaminants that will get into our reservoirs and to avoid the unfortunate situation that the City of Newburgh had with some contaminant going into their reservoir because of industrial development around them and what runs into their reservoir,” he said.
To address the current situation, Middletown secured permission from the state DEC to treat the Monhagen Reservoir algae bloom with copper sulphate to neutralize the problem.
