Municipal 

 29% 



12% 



Sludge 

 4% 



ndustnal 

 1% 



Gauged 



18% 



Dredge 

 21% 



Urban 

 15% 



Organic Carbon (2 6 * 10 6 kg day-') 



Municipal 

 40% 



Wastewater 



Industrial 

 2% 



Air 



Sludge 1% 



4% 



\ 



Municipal 

 '35% 



Wastewater! 



Runoff 



Industrial 

 1% 

 Gauged 



1% 



Nitrogen (0 52 x 1 6 kg day 1 ) 



Phosphorus (0.14 x 10 kg day ) 



Figure 2. Proportions from different sources of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus 

 added to the New York Bight (after Mueller et al., 1976) 



which were in New Jersey, the remainder in New York. The total mass load of nitro- 

 gen from this source, including the sources from New Jersey, is only about 10 percent 

 of the nitrogen contributed in sewage effluents to the Hudson River. The weighted 

 mean average concentration gives an N:P ratio of 3.75 by weight (8.30 by atoms). 

 The sludge disposed in the Bight is, thus, more deficient in nitrogen than is the sew- 

 age effluent discharged into the Hudson Estuary. It is clear that separating the sludge 

 from the sewage contributes little to the improvement of the water quality in the 

 Hudson Estuary according to the data for nitrogen and phosphorus. In contrast, 

 considerable total solids content and BOD can be removed from the sewage by 

 separating the sludge and barging it directly to sea. This removal of organic material 

 is clearly beneficial to the Hudson Estuary. 



There is considerable controversy about the dumping of sewage sludge at sea,* 

 and the present policy of the Environmental Protection Agency has been to phase 

 out this type of disposal. The Environmental Protection Agency also requires that 

 sewage receive secondary treatment prior to disposal through ocean outfalls. This 

 necessarily creates the sludge and mandates other types of disposal. Officer and 



•The ocean dumping ol dredged materials and industrial wastes is also subject to controversy, but these problems are not con- 

 sidered here 



81 



