Skip Navigation
Button that takes you to back to the home page. Button that takes you to the teacher pages. Button that takes you to the modules and activities page. Button that takes you to the related links page. Button that takes you to the references page. Button that takes you to the Problem Based Learning model page. Button that takes you to the glossary page.Image map of some Water Quality puzzle pieces. Please have someone assist you with this.

Button that takes you to the Overview page.
Button that takes you to the Acid Mine Drainage page.Button that takes you to the Agriculture page.
Image that says Sewage.
Button that takes you to the Dredging page.

Water Pollution: Sewage
 Image showing combined sewage outflow along Wheeling Creek.Sewage is generally a point-source pollutant. Sewage is the waste water from residential and commercial buildings. Degradation of stream water quality by untreated or insufficiently treated sewage is a widespread problem in many rural areas. Home owners in these communities are often responsible for providing their own septic systems. Many times these systems are improperly installed. They leak their contents into the groundwater. Some rural home owners cannot afford to install septic systems at all, so they pipe their sewage directly into local streams. Photo Combined sewage outflow along Wheeling Creek. Photo courtesy of Dr. Ben Stout.

Urban communities also face the problem of sewage in their stream water. These communities typically have water treatment plants where sewage is chemically treated then piped to nearby rivers and streams. The untreated sewage, along with stormwater runoff, is often carried to the sewage treatment plant in combined sewage outflows (CSOs).

During heavy downpours, stormwater runoff overwhelms the treatment plant. Consequently, a system of gates opens and releases the excess runoff -- along with the untreated sewage -- into nearby waterways.

Sewage carries excessive nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus to stream water. The excessive nutrients can lead to decreased levels of dissolved oxygen as a result of the process of eutrophication. Sewage also contributes to increased total solids , including fecal coliform, as well as increased water temperature.

 

Overview ..|.. Acid Mine Drainage ..|.. Agriculture ..|.. Sewage ..|.. Dredging
 Glossary  .|.  Related Links  .|.. References ..|.. PBL Model  .|

  Home ..|.. Teacher Pages ..|.. Modules & Activities  

Button that takes you back to the Water Quality main page.

HTML code by Chris Kreger
Maintained by ETE Team
Last updated November 10, 2004

Some images © 2004 www.clipart.com

Privacy Statement and Copyright © 1997-2004 by Wheeling Jesuit University/NASA-supported Classroom of the Future. All rights reserved.

Center for Educational Technologies, Circuit Board/Apple graphic logo, and COTF Classroom of the Future logo are registered trademarks of Wheeling Jesuit University.