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How does nitrogen harm coastal waters?
Does nitrogen also threaten our freshwater ponds and drinking water?
What can we do to reduce excess nitrogen in coastal waters?
What is nitrogen and how does it get into our coastal waters?
naturally occurring element in soils and water,
most abundant element in the Earth’s atmosphere
important for plant and animal life.
However, too much nitrogen in coastal waters leads to poor marine water quality and loss of aquatic life and habitat.
Too Much Nitrogen
(1) Atmospheric deposition- rain drops containing nitrogen leach through soils and reach the groundwater, which flows into coastal waters,
Too Much Nitrogen
(2) Watershed land uses - onsite septic systems serving homes and businesses are a major source of nitrogen. Nitrogen in wastewater leaches into groundwater that flows into coastal waters. Fertilizers use and stormwater runoff are other watershed sources of nitrogen;
Too Much Nitrogen
(3) Sediment regeneration - underwater sediments contain nitrogen and cycle this nitrogen back into the water column.
Harmful EFFECTS
Nitrogen in coastal waters acts like a fertilizer and promotes growth of algae. An excess of nitrogen can lead to an excess of algae growth, which shades the water and prevents sunlight from reaching aquatic plants that depend on photosynthesis, leading to their decline.
When plants and algae die, microbes in the water act to decompose them in a process that uses up the oxygen in the water. The resulting condition, sometimes referred to as eutrophication, leads to insufficient oxygen for healthy aquatic plants and animals and, in extreme cases, can lead to dead zones or fish kills.
harmful effects
phosphorous is Harmful too
Salty marine waters are much more sensitive to the negative effects of nitrogen than freshwater ponds and drinking water. While there are levels of nitrogen in drinking water that are considered unsafe, these conditions do not tend to occur on Cape Cod.
Freshwater ponds can absorb nitrogen without ill effects. However, another nutrient call phosphorous can be harmful to freshwater ponds in excessive amounts, and can cause eutrophication in ponds, similar to the effects of nitrogen in coastal waters.
phosphorous is Harmful too
There are a number of things you can do to reduce nitrogen in coastal waters. First and foremost, support the Town of Barnstable’s plans to expand sewer service to 11,000 properties in Town.
be part of the solution
Sewers collect and treat wastewater from homes and businesses and remove nitrogen and other pollutants before they can enter the groundwater or surface waters. Use of de-nitrifying septic systems, such as those being piloted at Shubael Pond, can also be an important means of reducing nitrogen in areas where sewering is not cost effective.
be part of the solution
Other ways residents can reduce nitrogen is by cutting back on the use of lawn fertilizer, reducing water consumption, and re-establishing vegetated buffers adjacent to fresh and marine waters, to help absorb run-off containing nitrogen or phosphorous.
be part of the solution
The Town of Barnstable has a 30 year Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan to help mitigate the effects of poor water quality.