As rainy spring weather washes phosphorus off farm fields, a series of new filters in northwest Ohio’s Defiance County are working to catch the nutrient — before it gets into the streams and waterways that feed Lake Erie.
The project is part of a broader effort to prevent harmful algal blooms there.
“If we can just get to, say, 20% of the high phosphorus fields, that will be a big success and will have a big impact on removing the phosphorus that gets into Lake Erie,” said Matt Fisher, vice president of the Lake Erie Foundation.
The nonprofit has installed five filters in the past couple of months and is monitoring their effectiveness.