Wastewater pollution is everywhere.

A toxic cocktail of excess nutrients, heavy metals, pathogens, pharmaceuticals, microplastics, endocrine disruptors, antibiotics, and hundreds of other compounds are entering the environment. In addition to the global sanitation crisis, in which  3.6 billion people live without safe sanitation , much of the world’s existing wastewater treatment infrastructure is antiquated, lacks capacity to manage modern-day demand, and is ill-equipped to deal with additional stressors from a changing climate. Even when wastewater is treated, current systems are unable to adequately protect human communities and natural systems from pollutants.

Eighty percent of the world’s wastewater is released into our waterways without any treatment at all.

These failures result in a wide range of public health, economic, and environmental impacts, including closed beaches, collapsed fisheries, and the proliferation of harmful algal blooms which suffocate life below water. Although scientists are still uncovering the full extent of the impacts of wastewater pollution on ecological health, it’s already evident that these effects are both varied and extensive.

Coral reefs, the biodiversity hotspots of the ocean, have been decimated by a lethal disease caused by Serratia marcescens — an opportunistic pathogen that has been directly traced back to human sewage. The world’s blue carbon sinks, like seagrasses and wetlands, are shrinking due to degradation caused by wastewater. Even environments that were historically considered the planet’s wastewater-resistant, natural filtration systems, including bivalve reefs, salt marshes, and mangroves, are in fact weakened by the presence of wastewater. Freshwater systems are not exempt either; for example, cesspools and failing septic systems can release untreated wastewater that percolates into groundwater, ultimately contaminating this critical water source.

And wastewater pollution’s reach extends far beyond human and environmental health — it also threatens economic stability, water access, food security, local livelihoods, coastal protection, climate resilience, and environmental equity.

We now know dilution is not always the solution to pollution, and action is needed to protect the waters humans and nature depend upon.

It’s time to move beyond our siloed and outdated sanitation systems which do not adequately consider impacts to the environment and fail to meet the challenges of a changing climate. A growing tide of research, awareness, and cross-sector collaboration has surfaced cross-cutting solutions which tap into technological advances, recover water and nutrients found in human waste, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and support ecosystems. Together we can create a paradigm shift in how we manage wastewater for the health of both people and the planet.

To achieve true progress in environmental conservation, it’s necessary that we protect the foundation of our ecological systems – and that means tackling wastewater pollution.

The Nature Conservancy is uniquely positioned to lead on this issue through our expertise in rigorous scientific research, cross-sector collaboration, policy engagement, strategic communications, and nature-based solutions. Our projects have revealed clear linkages between wastewater pollution and degraded water quality, as well as demonstrated how addressing the issue can bolster community and climate resilience. We're taking a whole-systems approach to ensure that water quality and the environment are prioritized in the mission to end aquatic wastewater pollution.

To advance this ambitious vision, The Nature Conservancy is focused on expanding awareness to motivate action and inspire innovation; identifying high-impact, regional solutions targeted at reducing untreated wastewater flows into the environment; as well as leveraging potential synergies with ongoing and relevant conservation teams and initiatives around the world.

• Stay informed about current policies and legislation aimed at enhancing water quality and modernizing wastewater infrastructure. To get started,  here’s a great resource  to learn more about how water quality is regulated in the United States. 
• Exercise caution in what you flush, and if you possess a septic system, ensure its regular upkeep. The EPA offers valuable  resources on proper septic maintenance  for further guidance.
•  Contribute  to support our mission through your generous donations.