What is Nitrogen Pollution?

Winter 2012

The Community for Clean Water

What is Nitrogen?

Nitrogen is a colorless, odorless

element that is essential in small
quantities for life.

Where does Nitrogen come

from?

This picture of Great Bay taken in 2008 by a University of New Hampshire researcher
clearly shows excessive algae growth which is a sign of nitrogen pollution.

Nitrogen Pollution & Great Bay

Since the sources of nitrogen [car exhaust, runoff from
pavement, sewage, lawn fertilizer] have increased in recent
decades, it is no surprise that the amount of nitrogen that
washes into the Great Bay has increased too. Data from
University of New Hampshire show that nitrogen has increased
44 percent in the past 28 years. This trend can not continue
without leading to an ecological collapse. In the Great Bay
system, different researchers have measured nitrogen in
different ways & gotten slightly different results, but all have
found a dramatically increasing trend of nitrogen.

When natural areas in Great Bays watershed are converted to houses, roads &
parking lots, the amount of nitrogen washing into the rivers & Bay increases.

Some nitrogen comes from

natural sources, but most of
the nitrogen causing pollution
is from people, in the form of
fertilizers, stormwater runoff
& sewage. Therefore as the
population grows, so does
the amount of nitrogen in
the environment
(if it is not removed).

hy is Nitrogen pollution a
problem?
Too much nitrogen pollutes
rivers and estuaries (bays)
by causing too much algae to
grow. These algae block out
sunlight that seagrasses need.
When these algae die and decay
it takes oxygen from the water,
causing fish to suffocate & die.

In many parts of the country, bays are

polluted by nitrogen & have low levels
of oxygen in the water, which can kill
fish & create Dead Zones

What You Can Do for Clean Water

Our Water at Stake
Economic Vitality: If Great
Bays nitrogen pollution gets
worse local communities will
have to pay hundreds of millions
of dollars to clean up & restore
the Bay.
Healthy Communities:
Pollution contaminates the water
our families use & the food we
eat. In order to maintain healthy
water for future generations the
pollution has to be controlled.

We all must work together & do our part to reduce all sources of pollution
to protect clean water for our families & for future generations. Personal
behaviors, political actions & fiscal responsibility are all part of the
solution. Here are the sources of nitrogen pollution in Great Bay:

Fertilizers: Most fertilizers are

made in part from nitrogen, so we
need to use slow-release nitrogen
fertilizer & be sure to apply only what
is required to avoid fertilizing our Bay
instead of our lawns.

Septic Systems: Almost

all septic systems are designed to

clean sewage of harmful bacteria,
but few are designed to remove
nitrogen. To help prevent further
pollution have your septic system pumped out every 3-5 years
& ensure a proper maintenance
Polluted Runoff: Nitrogen & schedule.
other pollutants wash off from surfaces like roads & driveways when it
rains & end up in Great Bay. Reduce Sewage Treatment
Plants: Sewage contains a
paved areas in your yard, pick up
great
deal of nitrogen. Great Bay
your dogs waste & dont litter.
communities with a sewer system
have a sewage treatment plant
that cleans the wastewater and
returns it to the Great Bay basin.
Since these plants concentrate the
sewage from thousands of homes,
nitrogen removal at a plant can
address nitrogen pollution from
a large area before it reaches the
Bay. There are18 sewage treatment
plants that drain out to rivers in the
Great Bay basin and currently none
are designed to remove nitrogen.
Support municipal expenditures for
upgrades to wastewater infrastructure.

LEARN MORE!
JOIN THE COMMUNITY FOR CLEAN WATER!
Get involved with PREPs Community Impact Program. Join us on Facebook or Twitter & find out how you can do your part!
www.facebook.com/PREPCommunity or www.twitter.com/PREPCommunity

Contact: Jill Farrell

Community Impact Program Manager
jill.farrell@unh.edu
603.862.0724
www.prep.unh.edu

This publication was produced by the Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership (PREP), which is a collaborative program of the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency administered through an agreement with the University of New Hampshire. The PREP mission is to protect, enhance, and restore
the environmental health of the Great Bay and Hampton-Seabrook Estuaries. 1/12