Water Pollution

Every day, the nation's sewers collect 34 billion gallons of wastewater from homes, businesses, and industry; some of this water contains toxic substances that threaten aquatic life and may cause cancer and other diseases in people. Because sewage treatment plants are typically not designed to treat toxic material, many of these substances simply pass untreated into receiving waters. This report examines (1) the range, sources, and seriousness of pollutants found in nonindustrial wastewater; (2) the strategies and programs developed by local and state governments to better manage and control these pollutants; and (3) federal options that might encourage or require better management and control of these pollutants.

GAO found that: (1) household wastewater accounts for about 15 percent of the regulated toxic pollutants entering treatment plants, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that as industrial discharges decrease, the proportion of household and commercial pollutants will increase and ultimately account for almost two-thirds of the toxic metals discharged to treatment plants; (2) EPA has focused little attention on assessing or controlling nonindustrial sources of toxic pollutants discharged to sewage treatment plants; (3) state and local programs to keep nonindustrial pollutants from entering treatment plants range from public education efforts to product bans; and (4) EPA efforts to better manage and control nonindustrial wastewater pollution have been limited to providing guidance and information on methods to assess and prevent nonindustrial wastewater pollution to states and the public.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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