Nation's Fisheries Awash in Wastewater

Many of the nation's sewage treatment and wastewater handling systems are so antiquated and poorly maintained that they annually discharge more than 850 billion gallons of wastewater into rivers and streams.

The details of this enormous environmental problem are contained in a report recently submitted to Congress by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

In 2000, Congress directed the federal agency to prepare two reports on the effects of large-scale overflows from both sanitary sewer and stormwater drainage systems. The first report was submitted in 2001. The second report, which was submitted in 2004, addressed three general areas of concern:

*The extent of human health and environmental impacts from both sanitary sewer and stormwater drainage system overflows;

*The resources spent by municipalities to address the identified impacts; and

*An evaluation of the technologies used to prevent overflows.

The EPA studied the two most common types of wastewater handling systems in the United States. These include combined sewer systems and sanitary sewer systems. Combined sewer systems (CSS) convey domestic, commercial and industrial wastewater, along with stormwater runoff, to publicly owned treatment works. Sanitary systems convey only domestic, commercial and industrial wastewater to treatment plants. A separate network of pipes carries storm runoff directly into the nation's fisheries.

Both types of systems are subject to periodic overflows, which may release untreated wastewater into rivers, streams, estuaries and coastal waters. Overflows from the two types of sewer systems are classified as combined sewer overflows (CSOs) and sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs).

Sewer systems that have recurrent CSOs or SSOs must have National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits issued by the EPA, under the Clean Water Act. There are currently 828 permits for CSOs and SSOs in 32 states.

Even with permits in place, CSOs and SSOs are responsible for the annual release of approximately 850 billion gallons of untreated — or partially treated — wastewater into U.S. waterways.

According to the EPA report, there are approximately 20,000 sanitary sewage systems in the country. These systems may experience as many as 75,000 overflows per year. Overflows may occur anywhere in the systems, from the points of origin to the sewage treatment plants. Inadequate maintenance and the advanced age of many sanitary sewage systems are the major causes of overflows.

In order to significantly reduce sewer systems overflows, the EPA says that a long-term, costly effort will be required. To achieve an 85% reduction in CSOs over the next 20 years will cost approximately $51 billion. Some CSSs will require only operations and maintenance work. Others will have to be completely revamped.

The task of reducing SSOs will also be enormously expensive and time-consuming. According to the EPA, municipalities spent $4 billion over four years to control SSOs. It will require almost 20 years and approximately $90 billion more to achieve significant reductions. Some SSOs are over 100 years old, whereas CSSs are generally much newer. Many cities and towns have told the EPA that they simply do not have the funds to repair existing facilities or to construct new systems incorporating the latest sewage treatment technology.

In its 2004 report to Congress, the EPA does not offer any specific recommendations on how to reduce sewer system overflows. Instead, the agency offers only general observations and conclusions. The first observation is that the nation's aging wastewater treatment infrastructure is in dire need of extensive maintenance and repair work. The EPA also concludes that sewage treatment and stormwater handling problems should not be addressed in isolation from other pollution threats to watersheds. The agency says that there should be a more comprehensive and integrated approach to watershed pollution. This approach should address all identifiable water pollution sources, and should involve federal, state and municipal governments, as well as nongovernmental organizations and individuals.

The EPA observed that officials charged with making decisions about wastewater transport and treatment systems do not have sufficient data about the two different systems. The agency advocated improved monitoring and reporting of wastewater overflow data, using the most advanced technology available.

Source: BASSTimes