Questions and Answers

Sewage from boats contains diseases-causing microorganisms and when discharged to the water can make people sick and depresses oxygen levels. The untreated discharge from one weekend boater puts the same amount of bacterial pollution into the water as does the treated sewage of 10,000 people! However, treatment chemicals are harmful to aquatic life such as fish and plants and are not always completely effective. Ideally, all boaters should take steps to avoid depositing any wastes into our waters.

Sewage in our waters: Why is it a problem?

It’s dangerous to our heath: Raw or poorly treated sewage spreads disease and contaminates shellfish beds. Contaminated shellfish can transmit almost all waterborne diseases, such as typhoid and cholera, to humans. Plus, no one wants a beautiful day on the water ruined by the smell of sewage or a surprise swim through it!

It’s harmful to the environment: Sewage reduces oxygen levels in the water, which need to be maintained in order for fish and other aquatic species to survive. Once released, organic matter in sewage is broken down in the water by bacteria that use up oxygen. Also, nutrients in waste water cause algal blooms, which are also decomposed by oxygen-using bacteria when they die. Aquatic life can become seriously stressed from lower oxygen levels from and sewage treatment chemicals that boaters add to the water.

It’s Illegal: It’s against the law to discharge raw sewage within three miles of the coast, or to discharge raw or treated sewage into ANY inland water of Maine.

For coastal waters, federal law requires vessels with an installed toilet to have a Coast Guard approved Marine Sanitation Device (MSD). There are three types of MSD’s. Types I and II treat and discharge sewage and then discharge to the water, and Type III’s store the waste (holding tanks). Boats longer than 65 feet must have a Type II or III MSD, while boats under 65 feet can have a Type I, II, or III MSD.

What can I do to reduce the sewage problem to coastal waters?

Use onshore public restrooms whenever possible before leaving for a boating trip, or during stops, instead of an MSD.

Know where your waste goes, and make sure it does not go directly into the water.

If you have a flow-through treatment system (Type I or Type II MSD), make sure it is working and that all your waste goes through the system.

If you have a holding tank, use it and pump it out at the more than 75 pumpout stations in the state.

Encourage your local marina owners to get a pumpout station if
they do not have one already.

Use enzyme-based products in your holding tank instead of deodorizers and disinfectants, which contain chemicals harmful to aquatic life such as formaldehyde, ammonia, and chlorine.

Do not dispose of fats, solvents, oil, emulsifiers, disinfectants, paints, poisons, phosphates, and diapers in your MSD.

If you go ashore on islands or other property, leave only footprints, pack out everything.

Clean up after your dog wherever you go.