NRDC Issues: Water
Sewage Pollution Threatens Public Health
Aging sewer systems and rollbacks of environmental law are
compounding the problem.
[En Español]
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that every year, in each county across the nation, the amount of untreated sewage that enters the environment is enough to fill both the Empire State Building and Madison Square Garden. And Swimming in Sewage, a February 2004 report by NRDC and the Environmental Integrity Project, shows that sewage overflows -- some legal, some not -- are creating an environmental and public health crisis:
• In Hamilton County, Ohio, a single sewer discharges 75 million gallons of untreated sewage into Mill Creek each year, including during summer months when children swim in the river.
• In Indianapolis, more than 1 billion gallons of untreated sewage are discharged into the environment each year because treatment plants cannot handle the flow during wet weather.
• In Michigan, 2,000 homes sustained sewer-related damage in 1999 and 2000.
• In Washington, D.C., a half-inch of rain can make sewers overflow into the Anacostia River, which runs through the heart of the city.
Untreated sewage carries a dangerous cargo of infectious bacteria, viruses, parasites and toxic chemicals. When it ends up in our recreational and drinking water, in groundwater and in the basements of our homes, it takes a severe toll on human health and the environment:
• Each year, 1.8 million to 3.5 million illnesses are caused by swimming in water contaminated by sewage overflows, and an additional 500,000 from drinking contaminated water.
• U.S. medical costs associated with eating sewage-contaminated shellfish range from $2.5 million to $22 million each year.
• In the reefs off the Florida Keys, 70 percent of elkhorn corals have been wiped out by white pox disease, which is caused by human intestinal bacteria.
Raw sewage is supposed to be carried to wastewater treatment plants for processing. Yet our sewage collection systems -- 200 years old in places -- are plagued by broken, leaking or overloaded pipes that allow untreated sewage to be released directly into the environment on a routine basis.
Sewer overflows often occur during wet weather, when rainwater seeps into cracked and corroded pipes, overwhelming the system and forcing raw sewage out onto the streets and into streams and basements. Older systems in the Northeast and around the Great Lakes are actually designed to carry both sewage and stormwater runoff. During heavy rains, their combined output automatically bypasses treatment plants and ends up in waterways. These combined sewer overflows dump an estimated 1.3 trillion gallons of raw sewage into communities every year.
The problem is worsening as the U.S. population grows, storms become more severe (a consequence of global warming) and our government fails to address our sewer systems' shortfalls. The Bush administration's proposed budget cuts and policy changes will further exacerbate sewage pollution. One such policy change will allow sewer operators to release "blended" or partially treated sewage into waterways when it rains -- a backward move, instead of the steps that are needed toward controlling raw sewage discharges.
But the situation doesn't have to spiral out of control. Better data on sewage overflows and waterborne illnesses can help stop or control disease outbreaks. The United States needs massive improvements in the integrity and capacity of its sewage systems, and the government should establish a trust fund for clean water, much like the ones that already exist for highways and airports. Above all, the Bush administration should enforce the Clean Water Act and protect public health and the environment, rather than continue its sweeping campaign to weaken environmental standards.
Related NRDC Pages
Swimming in Sewage
last revised 12.9.04
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