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Water Use Information by Topic
Overview
Wastewater is used water. It includes substances such as human waste, food scraps, oils, soaps and chemicals. In homes, this includes water from sinks, showers, bathtubs, toilets, washing machines and dishwashers. Businesses and industries also contribute their share of used water that must be cleaned.
Why Treat Wastewater?
It’s a matter of caring for our environment and for our own health. There are a lot of good reasons why keeping our water clean is an important priority:
- FISHERIES: Clean water is critical to plants and animals that live in water. This is important to the fishing industry, sport fishing enthusiasts, and future generations.
- WILDLIFE HABITATS: Our rivers and ocean waters teem with life that depends on shoreline, beaches and marshes. They are critical habitats for hundreds of species of fish and other aquatic life. Migratory water birds use the areas for resting and feeding.
- RECREATION AND QUALITY OF LIFE: Water is a great playground for us all. The scenic and recreational values of our waters are reasons many people choose to live where they do. Visitors are drawn to water activities such as swimming, fishing, boating and picnicking.
- HEALTH CONCERNS: If it is not properly cleaned, water can carry disease. Since we live, work and play so close to water, harmful bacteria have to be removed to make water safe.
If wastewater is not properly treated, then the environment and human health can be negatively impacted. These impacts can include harm to fish and wildlife populations, oxygen depletion, beach closures and other restrictions on recreational water use, restrictions on fish and shellfish harvesting and contamination of drinking water. The EPA provides some examples of pollutants that can be found in wastewater and the potentially harmful effects these substances can have on ecosystems and human health:
- Decaying organic matter and debris can use up the dissolved oxygen in a lake so fish and other aquatic biota cannot survive;
- Excessive nutrients, such as phosphorus and nitrogen (including ammonia), can cause eutrophication, or over-fertilization of receiving waters, which can be toxic to aquatic organisms, promote excessive plant growth, reduce available oxygen, harm spawning grounds, alter habitat and lead to a decline in certain species;
- Chlorine compounds and inorganic chloramines can be toxic to aquatic invertebrates, algae and fish;
- Bacteria, viruses and disease-causing pathogens can pollute beaches and contaminate shellfish populations, leading to restrictions on human recreation, drinking water consumption and shellfish consumption;
- Metals, such as mercury, lead, cadmium, chromium and arsenic can have acute and chronic toxic effects on species.
- Other substances such as some pharmaceutical and personal care products, primarily entering the environment in wastewater effluents, may also pose threats to human health, aquatic life and wildlife.
