June 11, 2008 -- A U.S. scientist says he has developed a water treatment that might help keep a fish disease out of Lake Superior.
Michigan Technological University Professor David Hand has devised a simple method of treating ballast water in vessels ranging from pleasure craft to ore boats. The technique is designed to kill the virus that causes viral hemorrhagic septicemia, or VHS -- an often-fatal disease that has been attacking fish populations in the lower Great Lakes.
Hand said his treatment is simple: The ballast water is disinfected with sodium hypochlorite -- ordinary household bleach. Then it is treated with ascorbic acid, or vitamin C, which neutralizes the bleach before the water is released into the lake. Read the full story to get the details.
