Herring Brook—a salt marsh in West Falmouth—is thriving, despite increased nitrogen flowing from municipal wastewater discharge. A consultant delivered the good news in a draft report to the water quality
23 December 2020
By: Ed Maroney
The planned Meetinghouse Pond sewered area is in red at the top of this figure, which shows properties (in green) whose septic systems have added and continue to add phosphorus to Crystal Lake. Properties in yellow have newer septic systems whose discharged phosphorus has not yet reached the lake. The pink parcels do not have buildings.
ORLEANS “Wastewater TP” doesn’t mean what you think it does.
When consultants recommended this week that Orleans “consider reduction of wastewater TP as the most reliable approach to attain restoration of water quality in Crystal Lake,” they weren’t referring to toilet paper but to “total phosphorus” flowing from septic systems to the lake and creating phytoplankton blooms.