The Environmental Engineering section of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) within the Ministry of Health & Environment monitors and manages pollution to the Groundwater, ponds and seawater under the requirements of the Water Resources Act 1975.

This article describes the results of a recent survey conducted over the summer of 2013 to determine the habits of recreational boaters with respect to sewage disposal.

The survey was sent to 2,590 owners of boats larger than 25ft to determine whether they have a head (ie toilet) and a sewage holding tank on-board, to determine what areas they commonly visit and where they discharge their sewage, and whether they would consider using sewage pump out facilities if they were made readily available.

The survey responses from 455 boat owners revealed that 77 percent had heads on board and 59 percent of the boats with heads had an associated holding tank. Ten of the boat owners (five percent) had removed the holding tank since the boat was built. The level of response was considered good for a postal survey.

The sewage disposal habits of the boat owners who responded suggested that:

• 17 percent don’t use their head/holding tank

• 16 percent pump in deep water

• 60 percent pump overboard (depth not specified)

• six percent take the sewage home and dispose of it

• one percent have the holding tank emptied yearly when the boat is serviced.

When asked to choose their top four boating destinations the owners gave the following:

• Mangrove Bay, Cambridge Beaches, Pompano, Elys Harbour — 23 percent

• Paradise Lakes — 20 percent

• Castle Harbour and Ferry Reach — 10 percent

• Offshore deep waters — nine percent

• Great and Little Sounds — eight percent

• North Shore — six percent

• Hamilton Harbour — five percent

• Gibbets Island and Flatts — four percent

• Dockyard — four percent

• Harrington Sound — two percent.

Assuming that appropriate pump out facilities could be provided at key locations around Bermuda the opinions of the boat owners who responded to the survey were as follows:

• 39 percent would use pump out facilities

• 31 percent would not use pump out facilities

• 29 percent may use pump out facilities, depending on cost and availability.

Some 39 percent of the responders did not consider that dumping sewage to the sea represented an environmental issue.

It is acknowledged that the marine environment can tolerate some sewage added to it, for example, large ships are permitted under the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to discharge raw sewage while underway beyond 12 nautical miles from shore.

However, in shallower environments the direct input of sewage can affect parameters such as dissolved oxygen concentration, which over hot summer months can be a major contributor linked to fish kills.

In addition to the environmental impacts associated with discharging sewage in shallow marine environments there is also a health and safety risk to those swimming in the vicinity of such vessels or on near beaches. Enclosed bays (such as Paradise Lakes) or other areas that see a high density of moored boats (such as Mangrove Bay) are considered to present such a risk.

Water sampling carried out by DEP at Paradise Lakes in August 2013 on the Sunday immediately after Cup Match (with only six boats remaining) revealed that the concentrations of Enterococci bacteria from human origins exceeded the US EPA Recreational Water Quality Standard (Analysis completed by Dept of Environmental Health).

In these situations boaters should be more considerate of bathers and should use their holding tanks to allow wastewater to be pumped out after the event in deeper water and away from bathers, beaches or shallow areas.

The Department of Environmental Protection is currently working towards legislation that will provide clear instruction on the sewage disposal requirements of boaters. New marinas, for example, have already been instructed to install sewage pump out facilities and the Department will be approaching existing marinas and other developments for such considerations over 2014.

The Department of Environmental Protection wishes to thank all boaters who responded to the survey.

* If you want to log a complaint about pollution of the air from equipments or facilities that emit exhaust, fumes or odours, from open burning of any materials, or from groundwater, ponds or seawater from any sources, contact the Department of Environmental Protection on EnvironmentalEngineering@gov.bm or 239-2303, 239-2356.