sole cause of water quality deterioration in the 
Great Lakes. The following paragraphs discuss 
measures which will improve Great Lakes water 
quality. Most plans cited below are recommenda- 
tions of the Federal Water Pollution Control 
Administration and others who are continually 
studying the Great Lakes Basin. 
1. Municipal Wastewater Treatment 
A minimum of secondary treatment should be 
provided by municipalities discharging wastewater 
to the Great Lakes. Treatment should be efficient 
and continuous, accomplishing 90 per cent 
removal of oxygen-consuming wastes. Limits 
should be established for such specific pollutants 
as suspended solids, settleable solids, ammonia, 
phenolics, oil, and those materials exerting a 
biochemical oxygen demand. The levels should be 
set commensurate with their ability to interfere 
with beneficial uses of water. Whenever possible, 
treatable industrial wastes should be processed by 
municipal systems, and master plans should be 
formulated for integrated treatment facilities in 
urban areas. Areas with septic tanks should be 
incorporated into sewerage systems as soon as 
possible. Continuous disinfection of all municipal 
wastewater also should be effected as soon as 
possible. 
2. Industrial Wastewater Treatment 
All industrial wastes should receive the equiv- 
alent of secondary treatment, and those industrial 
wastes causing chemical pollution should be ex- 
cluded from the Lakes or should receive a suitable 
level of treatment. 
Maximum reduction by the best available treat- 
ment should be implemented for acids and 
alkalies, oils, and tarry substances; phenolic com- 
pounds and other organics which produce objec- 
tionable tastes and odors; ammonia and other 
nitrogen compounds; phosphorus; suspended 
materials; toxic and highly-colored materials; 
oxygen-demanding substances; excessive heat; 
foam-producing compounds; and other materials 
which detract from aesthetics or other uses of 
water. 
3. Agricultural Runoff 
Pesticides and herbicides should be applied to 
minimize the amounts that drain into the Great 
Lakes in surface or subsurface runoff. 
333-091 O-69— 13 
4. Thermal Discharges 
Thermal discharges should be managed so that 
water quality standards are met and these dis- 
charges are beneficially employed wherever pos- 
sible. 
5. Oil Discharges 
Treatment of oil and other hazardous materials 
should be undertaken to exclude them from the 
Lakes. 
F. Future Needs 
The foregoing subsections have shown that: 
—The causes of water quality deterioration in the 
Great Lakes are fairly well defined. 
—Technology is available to prevent most water 
quality problems. 
—Technology to restore the water quality of the 
Great Lakes is or can be developed. 
To abate pollution substantially and to improve 
water quality before implementing restoration 
measures, ultimate standards should be established 
in cooperation with the States, the regions, and 
the Federal Government. Once fixed, the stand- 
ards should be strictly enforced. Incremental 
compliance may be necessary in some instances to 
offset the economic efforts of the ultimate stand- 
ards and to allow time for new treatment equip- 
ment to be incorporated. The Great Lakes should 
be used as an example for applying national 
standards. 
It has been determined that significant preven- 
tive measures are being implemented to improve 
Great Lakes water quality. Undoubtedly Lake Erie 
will become truly dead if accelerated eutrophica- 
tion proceeds unimpeded. 
If only preventive measures are implemented 
and technology for improvement is only partially 
applied, the Great Lakes could be restored to a 
desired level of water quality, but only after 
considerable time. Some speculate that recovery 
would be measured in terms of geological time. 
Even if technology for improvement is fully 
applied (i.e., full utilization of preventive and 
restorative technology), restoration of desirable 
water quality could take as long as a generation. 
This assumes that eutrophication is reversible—a 
VI-129 
