The public's awareness of wastewater management often stops with the toilet handle—we flush, and it's gone. Those with domestic onsite septic tanks may also have an unpleasant reminder every few years when they need a visit from the "honeywagon" to pump out their system, but for people served by centralized systems, sewage management is rarely on their minds. Yet the planning, engineering, infrastructure, and money required in managing sewage and wastewater are some of the biggest challenges faced by municipalities. Some of these challenges include:

• Installing or upgrading centralized sewer systems
• Repairing leaky and aged sewage system infrastructure
• Evaluating and implementing new technology for onsite or centralized wastewater collection, treatment, and maintenance
• Developing, testing, and enforcing performance standards for new or existing technology or treatment processes
• Managing wastewater effluent, siting wastewater outfalls, and disposing of biosolids
• Understanding and minimizing ecological and human health risks of waste and wastewater.

Citizens may be forced to spend thousands of dollars to upgrade their septic systems because their old system is leaky or does not meet new standards. A m unicipality that must pay for new centralized treatment often must raise the tax rate for its citizens.

In the U.S. portion of the Gulf of Maine, all untreated wastewater discharge was stopped as of 1996 (though in most communities this occurred much earlier). There are still water quality problems associated with combined sewer overflows, stormwater runoff, poorly functioning onsite septic systems, and treatment standards. In Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, many municipalities continue to discharge raw sewage into coastal areas. Forty-two percent of the population of New Brunswick's largest city (St. John, population 74,000) discharges untreated sewage into the Saint John River or Bay of Fundy. Many Canadian municipalities are greatly in need of basic treatment for both municipalities (centralized treatment: sewers) and rural areas (onsite treatment: septic systems).

However, the Canadian government is working hard to remedy these environmental concerns by allocating billions of dollars to wastewater treatment. Many modern treatment plants are being constructed, and new on-site regulations and guidelines have led to better domestic treatment. Throughout the Gulf of Maine and Bay of Fundy, American and Canadian citizens are committed to protecting its environment from the harmful effects of wastewater.

Wastewater may have a variety of effects on aquatic ecosystems, including microbial pathogen contamination, nutrient loading, and chemical contamination. Bacteriological contamination by fecal coliforms, enterococci, and Escherichia coli has caused the closure of hundreds of thousands of acres of shellfish beds in the Gulf of Maine, as well as forcing eating and swimming advisories. Nutrient loading leads to a wide variety of biological, economic, and cultural problems (see: Nitrogen pollution). There are hundreds of chemicals in wastewater, including heavy metals, pharmaceutical products and antibiotics, detergents and cleaners, pesticides, and other chemicals. Many of these chemicals are either toxic or function as endocrine disrupting substances, of which we have very little understanding. Sewage sludge also contains bacteria, excess nutrients, and chemicals, and much effort has been devoted toward better managing the disposal of sludge.

The Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment is actively involved in research, management, and education about sewage and wastewater issues. The Council's Action Plan 2001-2006 contains several objectives for sewage and wastewater management. In 2002, the Council sponsored a regional workshop on sewage management [workshop report (pdf)], attended by over 100 participants from the U.S. and Canada. Recommendations from the workshop that are being implemented by the Council include:

• Raise awareness with respect to wastewater management
• Establish the link between sewage discharges and ecosystem and human health
• Explore the socio-economic impacts of sewage discharge
• Find innovative approaches to address sewage management issues
• Assess the status of sewage management in each jurisdiction
• Report on an annual basis on the progress for each jurisdiction
• Facilitate cross-jurisdictional sharing of information
• Sponsor a second sewage workshop in 2-3 years.