Why should a vessel install a marine sanitation device (isn there adequate dilution in our lakes, estuaries, and coastal waters?)
Fecal coliform bacteria, which are found in the intestines of all warm-blooded animals, are aquatic indicator organisms in the water. Their presence is used to predict the presence of other harmful organisms. Shellfish filter water across their gills, and the collected particles from the water moves into their stomachs and other visceral organs. As a result, shellfish have the ability to collect harmful organisms, and to pass these organisms-at a much higher concentrations-on to unsuspecting consumers. Vessel sewage is more concentrated than domestic sewage because people on boats use less volumes of water for sanitary purposes than do people on land. A single boat discharging the contents of its holding tank into the waters of a harbor may pose little human health risk. However, if several hundred boats, on the other hand, are docked in a harbor with a poor flushing rate, and they dump their toilet waste directly overboard, that can present a definite problem. It has been observed tha
