Marine outfall

A marine outfall (or ocean outfall) is a pipeline or tunnel that discharges municipal or industrial wastewater, stormwater, combined sewer overflows (CSOs), cooling water, or brine effluents from water desalination plants to the sea. Usually they discharge under the sea's surface (submarine outfall). In the case of municipal wastewater, effluent is often being discharged after having undergone no or only primary treatment, with the intention of using the assimilative capacity of the sea for further treatment. Submarine outfalls are common throughout the world and probably number in the thousands. The light intensity and salinity in natural sea water disinfects the wastewater to ocean outfall system significantly.[1] More than 200 outfalls alone have been listed in a single international database maintained by the Institute for Hydromechanics at Karlsruhe University for the International Association of Hydraulic Engineering and Research (IAHR) / International Water Association (IWA) Committee on Marine Outfall Systems.[2]

Ocean outfall pipes in Cape May, New Jersey, United States - pipes exposed after the sand was removed by severe storm

The world's first marine outfall was built in Santa Monica, United States, in 1910. In Latin America and the Caribbean there were 134 outfalls with more than 500 m length in 2006 for wastewater disposal alone, according to a survey by the Pan American Center for Sanitary Engineering and Environmental Sciences (CEPIS) of PAHO. According to the survey, the largest number of municipal wastewater outfalls in the region exist in Venezuela (39), Chile (39) and Brazil (22).[2] The world's largest marine outfall stems from the Deer Island Waste Water Treatment Plant located in Boston, United States.[3] Currently, Boston has approximately 235 miles of combined sewers and 37 active CSO outfalls. Many outfalls are simply known by a public used name, e.g. Boston Outfall.[4][5][6][7]

Advantages

The main advantages of marine outfalls for the discharge of wastewater are:[8]

  • the natural dilution and dispersion of organic matter, pathogens and other pollutants
  • the ability to keep the sewage field submerged because of the depth at which the sewage is being released
  • the greater die-off rate of pathogens due to the greater distance they will have to travel to shore.

They also tend to be less expensive than advanced wastewater treatment plants, using the natural assimilative capacity of the sea instead of energy-intensive treatment processes in a plant. For example, preliminary treatment of wastewater is sufficient with an effective outfall and diffuser. The costs of preliminary treatment are about one tenth that of secondary treatment.[9] Preliminary treatment also requires much less land than advanced wastewater treatment.

Disadvantages

Marine outfalls for partially treated or untreated wastewater remain controversial. The design calculation and computer models for pollution modeling have been criticized, arguing that dilution has been overemphasized and that other mechanisms work in the opposite direction, such as bioaccumulation of toxins, sedimentation of sludge particles and agglomeration of sewage particles with grease. Accumulative mechanisms include slick formation, windrow formation, flocculate formation and agglomerated formation. Grease or wax can interfere with dispersion, so that bacteria and viruses could be carried to remote locations where the concentration of bacterial predators would be low and the die-off rate much lower.[8]

Technology

Outfalls vary in diameter from as narrow as 15 cm to as wide as 8 m; the widest registered outfall in the world with 8 m diameter is located in Navia (Spain) for the discharge of industrial wastewater. Outfalls vary in length from 50 m to 55 km, the longest registered outfalls being the Boston outfall with a length of 16 km and an industrial outfall in Ankleshwar (India) with a length of 55 km. The depth of the deepest point of an outfall varies from 3 m to up to 60 m, the deepest registered outfall being located in Macuto, Vargas (Venezuela) for the discharge of untreated municipal wastewater.

Outfall materials include polyethylene, stainless steel, carbon steel, glass-reinforced plastic, reinforced concrete, cast iron or tunnels through rock. Common installation methods for pipelines are float and sink, bottom pull and top pull.[2]

Examples

Submarine outfalls exist, existed or have been considered in the following locations, among many others:

Africa
Asia
Oceania
Europe
North America
Latin America and the Caribbean

Controversies

In the 1960s the city of Sydney decided to build ocean sewage outfalls to discharge partially treated sewage 2–4 km offshore at a cost of US$300 million. In the late 1980s, however, the government promised to upgrade the coastal treatment plants so that sewage would be treated to at least secondary treatment standards before discharge into the ocean.[16]

The submarine outfall in Cartagena, Colombia was financed with a loan by the World Bank. It was subsequently challenged by residents claiming that the wastewater caused damage to the marine environment and to fisheries. The case was taken up by the World Bank's Inspection Panel, which contracted two independent three-dimensional modeling efforts in 2006. Both "confirmed that the 2.85km long submarine outfall (was) adequate."[17]

For disposal into the ocean, environmental treaty requirements have to met. As international treaties often manage water over countries' borders, wastewater disposal is easier in bodies of water found entirely under the jurisdiction of one country.

References
  1. Yang, Lei; Chang, Wen-Shi; Lo Huang, Mong-Na (2000-02-15). "Natural disinfection of wastewater in marine outfall fields". Water Research. 34 (3): 743–750. doi:10.1016/S0043-1354(99)00209-2. ISSN 0043-1354.
  2. Outfalls Database Archived 2008-06-28 at the Wayback Machine Click on "Activities", then "Outfalls repository", then "database", then "Output"
  3. "Combined Sewer Systems and Outfall Maps".
  4. OUTFALLS DATABASE AND INFORMATION EXCHANGE Archived 2015-07-28 at the Wayback Machine
  5. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-08-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-08-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-08-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. Beder, Sharon: From Pipe Dreams to Tunnel Vision: Engineering Decision-Making and Sydney's Sewerage System, Ph.D. Thesis, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA 1989, Chapter 8: The 'Science' and 'Metaphysics' of Submarine Outfalls
  9. Philip JW Roberts:"Underwater and underused: The case of marine outfalls in wastewater disposal", in Water21, Magazine of the International Water Association, October 2010, pp. 22-26
  10. "Error" (PDF).
  11. "New Anglesea outfall towed into position". Barwon Water. Retrieved 2016-12-29.
  12. Wong, Marcus (9 July 2015). "Where does Geelong's sewage go?". Waking Up In Geelong. Retrieved 2016-12-29.
  13. Gunnerson, C.G., "Wastewater Management for Coastal Cities: The Ocean Disposal Option", World Bank Technical Paper Number 77, February 1988.
  14. Rogers V.J.: Wastewater treatment utilizing submarine outfalls: the role of science, communications and public involvement in the decision-making process, Water Science and Technology, Volume 32, Number 2, 1995 , pp. 1-8(8)
  15. "Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant". City of San Diego. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  16. Sharon Beder, 'Getting into Deep Water: Sydney's Extended Ocean Sewage Outfalls' in Pam Scott, ed., A Herd of White Elephants: Australia's Science & Technology Policy, Hale and Iremonger, Sydney, 1992, pp62-74.
  17. World Bank Inspection Panel Progress Report on Cartagena Water Supply, Sewerage and Environmental Management Project

Sources
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