Have you ever truly considered where your waste really goes when you use the restroom? That some individuals do not have the same luxury of transportable sewage? Or that some of those individuals directly deposit this waste directly into fresh water sources where they mingle with biotia or debris?
Take a moment to consider these questions. What impact do you think the presence of human waste and related debris play on the associated ecosystems? On the world’s water as a whole? Finally, how much waste do you think is actually disposed of through improper methods?
As I have already discussed, the need for freshwater conservation is quite real; we, as a planet, are scheduled to run out of drinkable fresh water as a result of drought and population increase. These factors are exacerbated by improper removal of various forms of waste from (and their insertion into) this essential resource. The deposit of human waste into fresh water sources plays a particularly significant role in current water concern, as can be seen in the March 2017 post by the UK’s Independent article and in the recent surge in scientific papers studying the effects of sewage on ecosystems and on fresh water bodies utilized for human water consumption.
True Metrics & Effects
Let me begin by answering one of my earlier questions, particularly that concerning the quantity of sewage that goes improperly treated. The standard figure is over 80 percent (as first established in Independent(UK)‘s article “Stop wasting sewage to save ‘finite’ supplies of fresh water, warns UN“).
If you live in a portion of the United States fortunate enough to have full access to plumbing and fresh water, your waste is likely transported to a systematic, multi-tiered treatment system involving the substances’ transportation from your abode to a (relatively) nearby facility. However, if you are located in a region without such amenities, be it inside of or outside of the United States… Your waste may be directly outsourced to a number of locations, including local freshwater sources (ponds, lakes, streams, etc) or the ocean.
As collected by the Independent via an interview with Professor Stefan Uhlenbrook of the United Nation’s World Water Assessment Program, 300,000 deaths (counting only children under the age of five) occurred in 2012 alone as a result of inadequate hygiene and sanitation measures. The issue with sanitation is very apparent, as clearly seen through these data, and has easily understood implications on human life.
However, sewage-filled water poses a threat on multiple levels beyond that of apparent pathogenic (and strikingly unsanitary) dilemma. The nutrients present in human feces and urine foster biological growth in a similar manner to animal manure. Such presences result in the ability of contaminated waters to foster some biologic growth: algae. Prosperous algal blooms affect aquatic ecosystems (including the ocean) by removing oxygen from the water in a process that is called “hypoxia.” Both plants and bacteria in the water utilize dissolved oxygen in the water for their biological processes, stealing the oxygen from the native ecosystem inhabitants and causing them to asphyxiate. Sciencing.com further explains that this creation of environments with low dissolved oxygen content permit the flourish of invasive species which thrive in the variant conditions.
In the same interview conducted by the Independent with Professor Stefan Uhlenbrook, an astounding figured regarding the land area of aquatic ecosystem affected by sewage-contaminated water was shared. According to the Professor, 250,000 square kilometers- an area he relates to the size of Great Britain- are impacted by such conditions.
The impact of dissolved solutions in feces and urine is furthered through the medications and chemicals sourced therein. Developmental and reproduction issues are noted to result in animals exposed to conditions containing antibiotics and excess hormones prior dissolved in the ill-disposed-of waste, indicating that the impact of our lack of discretionary disposal results in highly negative response by other organisms.
Clearly, this lack of proper disposal of human waste results in a myriad issues involving our existence as well as that of the organisms with which we share this planet. It is assuredly our role to right the environmental wrongs we have committed and clean up the waste which we have introduced into our environment: out planet is not a toilet, nor is it a landfill. Our fresh water resources are becoming more and more restricted with each passing year and we must do all that is in our grasp to assure that we do not truly run dry.