Dilution of sewage pollution in the coastal waters of Hilo, Hawaiʻi, USA; an area with high river and groundwater inputs.
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2022-08
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Sewage pollution threatens human and ecosystem health, and its presence can be masked by dilution from freshwater inputs or ocean mixing. This project assessed sewage pollution in the coastal waters of Hilo, Hawaiʻi, an area with high freshwater inputs impacted by on-site sewage disposal systems (OSDS) and an offshore sewage treatment plant (STP) outfall. Twenty shoreline stations were sampled from July 2020 to October 2021 for multiple sewage indicators: fecal indicator bacteria (FIB), nutrients, and stable isotopes in macroalgae and nitrate in water, many of which were incorporated into a sewage pollution scoring tool. Rivers and groundwater were assessed as vectors of sewage pollution and sewage indicator values were compared to water quality standards. Nutrient standards were exceeded in all waters, while FIB standards were exceeded in river-influenced areas. River areas had the highest FIB, NH4+, Chl a, turbidity values, and the highest probability of having stations with a medium-level sewage impact. Groundwater areas had the highest nutrient concentrations and groundwater was the dominant source of NO3- to all freshwater-influence groups as indicated by the stable isotope mixing model. Low sewage indicator values and pollution scores at stations with recently confirmed connectivity to OSDS suggest that freshwater is diluting sewage along the shoreline. This study emphasizes the importance of including a variety of sewage indicators to account for variability influenced by area-specific environmental factors, such as high freshwater input or differing hydrogeology, when assessing the influence of sewage pollution on water quality.
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Water resources management, Natural resource management, Public health, Cesspools, Human-impact, On-site Sewage Disposal Systems, Sewage Indicators, Sewage Outfall, Sewage Vectors
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59 pages
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