Ocean Outfalls - there is a solution to ocean pollution

Australia is the world's largest island with over 7,000 beaches and approximately 12,000 smaller islands in our waters.

Australia has one of the most diverse marine ecosystems in the world which includes over 4000 fish species, 166 shark species and 500 coral species. Our waters have 30 of the world's 59 types of seagrass, which are critical habitats for a diverse range of marine life, from western rock lobsters to green sea turtles and dugongs.

But our beautiful marine environments are under threat from human impact and pollution.

In 1995 the Surfrider Foundation coordinated the State of the Surf (SOS) project, an on-going review of the documenting and assessing of human impacts on beaches around Australia.

The report of this project titled, HUMAN IMPACT ON AUSTRALIAN BEACHES (Michael Legge-Wilkinson 1996) identified ocean outfalls and stormwater drains as being key sources of pollution threatening our marine and coastal eco-systems. 80% of discharges and emissions into the marine environment enter the seas from land. (Copies of the report can be ordered by contacting SURFRIDER FOUNDATION NATIONAL OFFICE).

Since 1995 in many cases things have got worse around Australia, not better. A number of major sewage spills in Sydney and other capital cities have pumped millions of litres of raw sewage in the ocean. In Victoria the picturesque coastal town of Lorne has been hit by two major sewage spills in 1998 with raw sewage running down the streets and onto the beaches.

As coastal populations explode over the next twenty years (80% of Australia's population currently live within five kilometres of the coast) the pressure on our coastal sewage systems will increase dramatically. In Byron Bay during March 1998 the local Council stopped all major developments in the town of Byron Bay while it attempted to deal with an overworked and ineffective sewage treatment facility.

For the last seven years the Surfrider Foundation has called for the closing of all ocean outfalls around Australia. The Surfrider Foundation feels that treating sewage on land is the only safe way to treat one of Australia's greatest pollution threats.

Ocean Outfalls - sewers in the surf Ocean outfalls are a major source of ocean pollution. There are currently 141 public sewage outfalls discharging human effluent and industrial waste into the ocean around Australia.

The 141 outfalls have a combined discharge exceeding three billion litres per day.
The largest ocean outfalls are in Sydney (Malabar Outfall - 430 million litres per day/North Head - Manly - 280 million litres per day/Bondi - 130 million litres per day) and Melbourne (Gunnamatta - 250 million litres per day).

Each year around 10,000 tonnes of phosphorus and 100,000 tonnes of nitrogen are discharged through sewage, much of which finds its way into the marine environment. Elevated nutrient levels may cause eutrophication, the excessive growth of algae, which depletes oxygen levels in the water and may suffocate marine organisms.

Heavy metals in industrial waste can work their way through the food chain and end up in much of the seafood we eat. A number of fisherman on coastal towns have become after catching fish near ocean outfalls.

Australia is a desert continent. The Surfrider Foundation believes that the only way to treat sewage is to pump it onto the land and treat it through wetlands or high tech tertiary systems. The effluent can then be used for farming/irrigation/ on pine plantations,etc.

Pumping billions of litres of effluent into the ocean each day isn't helping anyone.

The current alternatives treatment methods available to Australia's water authorities are :

1 - Land Based Treatment - natures way of treating sewage Melbourne has one of the cleanest and most efficient sewage treatment facilities in the world. The Western Treatment Plant was developed in 1892 as a means of preventing future diphtheria and typhoid epidemics in Melbourne. 10,000 hectares of land just 35 kilometres south-west of Melbourne was set aside for the countries largest waste water treatment facility which uses a natural grass filtration and lagoon system to treat more than half of Melbourne's wastewater.

In a nutshell sewage is pumped into a series of large lagoons and onto the land where it is broken down naturally. Methane from the lagoons is trapped and converted to electricity which is fed into the national grid while cows and sheep graze the grasslands generating $3-4 million dollars a year in revenue for the facility. The site also provides one of the State's biggest sanctuary's for birdlife and other animals during times of drought.

Land based treatment of sewage is the most effective, cost effective and natural ways to treat wastewater in Australia.

2 - Secondary Treatment to wetlands In Michigan the water authorities have come up with a novel way of treating
sewage using a strategy similar to Melbourne's Western Treatment Facility. In the absence large tracks of land the City of Michigan built a secondary treatment plant next to an old swamp. The city then re-landscaped the old 'swamp' and began to pump the treated effluent from the plant into the new wetland. Within twelve months the numbers and variety of birds and wildlife in the area had doubled.

Today the Michigan facility is a modern example of how water authorities can work with nature. The wetlands act as a final natural filter stage eliminating all nutrients and harmful viruses from the treated effluent. The nutrient rich wetlands are now home to over 200 different varieties of birds and a wide range of rich grasses and other plantlife.

The Surfrider Foundation believes that the Michigan model is highly appropriate to many Australian coastal towns with limited space and a lack of water. During the last hundred years almost 60% of Australia's natural wetlands have been destroyed. The Michigan model creates a unique opportunity to reverse this destruction.

3 - Composting Sewage In the United States a number of towns have developed composting schemes to treat their sewage. The small to medium sized towns effluent is mixed with woodchips and then buried for 3 months under a 2 metre pile of dirt creating a human waste composting mound. The mound builds up with heat, much like your domestic composting bin and eliminates all viruses and bacteria.

This method is effective in eliminating all viruses and bacteria and in 90 days a natural nutrient rich fertiliser is produced that can then be sold to farms for a profit to the water authority. Methane rising from the compost mound can also be collected and turned into electricity which can be sold onto the national grid.

With planning and foresight there is the potential to generate a significant level of income from appropriate waste treatment strategies. Pumping millions of litres of sewage into the ocean is a waste of a valuable potential high revenue generating resource.

4 - Hi-tech filtration plants At the moment a number of high tech filtration systems have been developed by MEMTEC which are in use around the world. These systems rely of feeding the sewage through a series of high tech membranes which filter out all traces of chemicals and nutrients. A high tech 'zap' at the end using ultra-violet light then destroys all the 'bugs' and harmful bacteria.

These high tech plants are very effective and can produce a clear effluent at the end which is almost drinkable. They do however come with a high price tag which is a deterrent for many smaller coastal towns.

There are SOLUTIONS to OCEAN POLLUTION The Surfrider Foundation has been actively campaigning in all states for the phasing out of ocean outfalls. In many parts of Australia we have presented to the water authorities viable alternatives to ocean outfalls which have been developed by a team of scientists and engineers.

Today we know more about treating sewage and industrial waste then ever before. Our historical reliance on large centralised sewage treatment systems has created a large environmental hazard which is polluting many of our most popular surfing and swimming locations.

By being pro-active the Surfrider Foundation is attempting to encourage the natural treatment and re-use of the treated (and in some cases untreated) effluent which is being pumped into our oceans at the rate of approx. 3 BILLION LITRES A DAY.

For an island continent regularly ravaged by drought this is too valuable a resource to be wasting.

If you would like to find out more about OCEAN OUTFALLS you can tap into the following web-sites for more SURFRIDER FOUNDATION information and ideas.

Our United States Branches also provide a valuable resource for people wanting to find out more about how to fix up the problem of ocean pollution.

VICTORIA
http://www.melbourne.net/surfriders/

COFFS HARBOUR
http://www.midcoast.com.au/users/surfrider/

GOLD COAST
http://www.wetpaper.com.au/SFGC/SFGCpage

BYRON BAY
http://om.com.au/surfhey/surfriders/home.html

At Surfrider we have a saying 'RESPECT THE BEACH'. Look after the beach, keep our ocean clean and they will look after you and give you much pleasure and enjoyment in the surf and sun.

For further information please contact Surfrider Foundation at the National Office on (07) 5534 2855 or email John Foss at jfoss@g130.aone.net.au