Sewage-JL

What It Is

Sewage

-       sources: domestic, commercial, industrial, shipping discharges

-       ex. excrement from toilets, wastewater, etc.

-       in developed countries, wastes travel to sewage treatment facilities- partly treated and sometimes untreated sewage is sometimes discharged due to facility malfunctions, inadequate infrastructure, etc.  

-       in developing or not developed countries there are often no sanitation facilities- human wastes go directly into coastal waters

-       in some developed regions raw sewage is poured into harbors, bays, and coastal waters (ex. Halifax Harbor in Nova Scotia)

-       sewage sludge- semisolid byproduct of the sewage treatment process; disposed at sea in some countries

Why It Is an Issue

-       some substances in sewage can harm ecosystems and be a threat to public health

-       sewage carries potentially disease-causing microbes called pathogens- main cause of recreational beach closures

-       study conducted by the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP)

o   sewage may be “the most serious problem” affecting the marine environment- the least amount of progress has been made in this area

o   80% of sewage entering the ocean from developing countries is raw and untreated

o   ver 50% of sewage entering the Mediterranean Sea is untreated

o   the number of coastal dead zones doubled every decade since 1960- rising levels of nitrogen and phosphorous levels from sewage and runoff

o   growing coastal population means more waste- it is “steadily growing worse”

Sources:

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/oct2006/2006-10-04-01.asp

http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Po-Re/Pollution-of-the-Ocean-by-Sewage-Nutrients-and-Chemicals.html

Research by: JL