Improving Water Quality in Long Island Sound

Residential septic systems are a primary source of nitrogen loading to nearby water bodies which can negatively impact water quality. Long Island Sound is one such water body at risk to substantial residentially-sourced nitrogen loading.  Marsh Institute Director Robert Johnston, in collaboration with researchers at University of Connecticut, University of Maryland, and University of Miami, received funding from New York Sea Grant for the project Reducing Non-Point Source Nitrogen Loads from Residential Septic Systems: Identifying Barriers and Opportunities for Large-Scale Water Quality Improvements, which will develop an integrated, spatially-explicit economic-behavioral-hydrological model to inform the design and targeting of programs to reduce Long Island Sound non-point source nitrogen loads from residential onsite wastewater treatment systems. This work will significantly advance public understanding of opportunities and barriers to reduction of nitrogen from residential parcels, provide a tool that predicts household adoption of alternative onsite wastewater treatment technologies under alternative programs and scenarios, and identify how programs can be optimally designed for cost-effective nitrogen-load reduction.

For full project descriptions, see the Marsh Institute Research Projects web page.