EPA Research Partner Support Story: Evaluating non-traditional approaches for reducing excess nutrients entering Cape Cod's coastal waters
Partners: Barnstable Clean Water Coalition (BCWC); Massachusetts Alternative Septic System Test Center; the Town of Barnstable, Massachusetts; and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP)
Challenge: Evaluating non-traditional approaches for reducing excess nutrients entering Cape Cod's coastal waters
Resource: Nutrients Solutions-Driven Research Pilot – neighborhood-scale demonstration of innovative/alternative septic systems in Cape Cod, in collaboration with U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and The Nature Conservancy
Project Period: 2018 – Present
EPA is collaborating with partners and stakeholders in the Cape Cod region to explore ways of reducing the amount of nutrients, specifically nitrogen, in coastal watersheds. Excess nutrients from human activities are an increasingly serious threat to water resources as they degrade water quality and contribute to algae blooms, low dissolved oxygen, loss of habitat and species diversity and, in extreme cases, fish kills.
“We’ve all heard the saying, ‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.’ At the core of this proverb is the idea of partnership. Stellar results in business and in life usually have partnerships at their foundation, which has proven to be the case for BCWC’s work in the Three Bays watershed. We were introduced to EPA ORD about four years ago at a fortuitous moment. EPA ORD was launching a program they call ‘translational science,’ where they work on a significant environmental challenge and look to partner with stakeholders to develop real-world solutions. For BCWC this has meant that our team has the opportunity to spend hundreds of hours working with the experts at EPA ORD to understand the nutrient pollution problem. We are working together on multiple approaches to reduce nutrient overload―one of the most significant problems for our Cape Cod waterways.” – Barnstable Clean Water Coalition Executive Director Zee Crocker
Enhanced innovative alternative (IA) septic systems can remove much of the nitrogen in wastewater before it enters groundwater and connected surface waters such as ponds, streams, and estuaries. As new designs are developed, system installation and monitoring are needed to evaluate real-world performance before they are considered for broader use. EPA, in collaboration with USGS, is partnering with BCWC, the Massachusetts Alternative Septic System Test Center, MassDEP, and the Town of Barnstable to implement a neighborhood-scale demonstration of enhanced IA septic systems.
Goals of the demonstration project include quantifying nitrogen reduction and cost-effectiveness of the enhanced IA systems, evaluating how clustering these systems impacts nitrogen in groundwater nitrogen, and communicating lessons learned to local, state, regional and federal partners in watersheds similarly compromised by legacy septic systems.
More information is available on the Innovative/Alternative Septic Systems webpage.