The discussion about the proper role for nutrient-reducing septic systems in municipal water quality restoration plans is heating up. Excess nitrogen from septic systems not originally designed to remove nitrogen from human waste is the primary cause of estuarine water quality problems. Promising data indicate that some nitrogen-reducing systems will perform significantly better than many of the septic systems currently available, although not to the levels of reduction achieved by municipal sewers. Having systems that substantially lower nitrogen discharge from the septic systems remaining as part of a well-considered estuarine focused watershed approach to water quality management will provide another piece of the complex puzzle of solutions to degraded water quality that include aquaculture, natural resources restoration and, yes, traditional sewering.
The simple reality is that nitrogen-reducing systems are a part, but only a part, of the overall solution to solving our water quality problems. Assuming that the promising technologies prove effective in real world installations, they will become an option for improving water quality in areas contributing nitrogen directly to marine environments where other means of control are difficult, expensive or otherwise undesired. That will be a good thing.
While recognizing and harnessing the potential nitrogen reducing systems offer for improvement in some areas, it is critically important that we remain clear eyed about where their deployment makes the most sense and where it does not. Of particular concern is that the region does not lose sight of the needs of our freshwater lakes and ponds. While equally degraded by nutrients as their saltwater embayment cousins, lakes and ponds are impacted to a greater degree by phosphorus as opposed to nitrogen. While technological improvements in nitrogen removal appear imminent, there is no objective basis for such optimism to exist for the development of systems that enhance the removal of phosphorus alone or in tandem with nitrogen. It will be years before septic phosphorus reduction catches up and septic systems become part of the solution, rather than the cause of many of our freshwater water quality problems.
The right path is to invest in new technologies that can solve problems specific to different types of water resources and to not give into the temptation to use them where they are not going to make a difference. As a matter of public policy, we have to offer the public solutions that are suited to achieve our objectives and not just to make ourselves feel good by doing something that sets unreasonable expectations that cannot be met. While the Cape has been working on improving the quality of marine waters for years and is finally making important progress, we are way behind in understanding and dealing with serious problems in freshwater environments. Now is a critical time to ensure that the planning and implementation decisions we are making take full account of the needs of all our water resources and that we invest in the right solutions in the right places. We have been at this long enough that it would be a crime to lose our discipline and make poor investments by deploying new technologies outside of the areas where they can do some good, no matter how alluring the glossy sales pitches look.
