Lake Springfield in the city of Springfield,Illinois,is a busy place where people swim and fish.The lake also supplies drinking water for Springfield residents and cooling water to a nearby coal-fired power plant.Beautiful homes surround most of the lake.Over the past 15 years,the bacterium Leptospira,commonly found in agricultural animal waste,has been detected in this lake water,and some people have become sick.The contamination of the lake by Leptospira may best be prevented by

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Leptospira is commonly found in agricultural animal waste, so better control of agricultural nonpoint source pollution of the lake would be the most effective way to prevent contamination of the lake by this bacterium. Doubling the amount of fluoride added to the city's public water supply would have no effect on Leptospira contamination, nor would restricting swimming in the lake to only weekends. Requiring the power company to find another source for its cooling water may be an option, but it would not address the primary source of the contamination.

Lake Springfield in the City of Springfield,Illinois,is a Busy Place