Vessel Discharge
of Sewage

No-Discharge Area Designation

Summary

• Work with local and state governments to declare your harbor a no-discharge area once adequate pumpout facilities are installed.

Work with local and state governments to declare your harbor a no-discharge area once adequate pumpout facilities are installed.

Installation of pumpouts has been based on the anticipated no-discharge designation that the state will apply for as soon as there are adequate pumpouts in specific areas. Once each harbor has the required number of pumpouts, no-discharge areas can be defined and declared. No-discharge areas are zones of water that require greater environmental protection, where even the discharge of treated sewage could be harmful (Coast Guard, 1986). In these areas it is illegal to allow sanitary waste, treated or untreated, to be discharged into the water. In no-discharge areas the only marine sanitation device that can legally be used is an approved Type III MSD (holding tank). Type I and II MSDs (on-board treatment systems using macerator/chlorinators) can be installed but cannot be used. Regardless of what type of MSD is on board in no-discharge areas, overboard Y valves must be secured. When declared and enforced, no-discharge areas can significantly reduce the amount of bacterial contamination being introduced by the illegal discharge of MSDs. Rhode Island's first no-discharge area is Great Salt Pond on Block Island, where water quality studies in the pond indicate that levels of fecal coliform have declined during the boating season since the declaration of no discharge (Constantine, 1993).