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Sewage in the South Pacific

Sewage is a significant source of pollutants to the region's marine environment. It introduces nutrients, suspended particulate matter, and human pathogens to our coastal waters.

One area of particular concern is the apparent increase in eutrophication of our lagoons.

One area of particular concern is the apparent increase in eutrophication of our lagoons and may berelated to changes in nutrient inputs from anthropogenic activities. The contamination of freshwater supplies that results from inadequate sewage disposal is also of great concern to the region. Domestic sewage and sewage from the tourist industry improperly treated and discharged to freshwater and coastal environments present a variety of concerns.

These are associated with:

• Pathogens that may result in human health problems through exposure via drinking water supplies, bathing waters, or through contaminated shellfish;
• Suspended solids;
• Significant nutrient inputs resulting in eutrophication;
• Biochemical oxygen demand; and
• Persistent pollutants such as POPS, plastics, and heavy metals which contribute to cumulative and transboundary marine degradation.

All have serious deleterious ecological consequences. The environmental effects of discharges of untreated or partially treated sewage to the marine environment or to the land that eventually reaches the marine environment are common threats to the environmental quality of the region's member countries.

Estimated pollutant loadings to the marine environment from domestic sewage are summarized in the Table below. As tourism population numbers were not available for all countries, these loadings do not fully estimate the loading from tourism sources. Tourism-related sewage discharges are significant concerns as they may represent the greatest point source contributors of sewage to the marine environment. Also, many tourist development areas are concentrated in relatively small geographic areas and the cumulative effect of their individual treatment system discharges overloads the capacity of the land area and results in discharges to marine areas.

– SPREP2000a:13-14