Waste Not, Want Not Have you ever stopped to consider what happens to the waste water at a remote dive resort? How is the water from showers, toilets, sinks, etc. processed? Or is it? Where does all the waste end up? What role do we as visiting divers play in contributing to the degradation of the marine environment? Divers are supposed to care about these things, right? One person who took an interest in this issue is Don Baker, who's a Marine Resource and Environmental Consultant with Pacific Aqua-Tech Systems Sdn Bhd, As the story goes, one afternoon while Don was strolling dewn the boardwalk of a popular resort, he ‘ticed something strange. A man rushed out of one of the guest chalets, kneeled down to look under the uilding, then shouted, “Ok honey, do it now! Curiosity peaked, Don knelt to take @ look, only to S60 the overflow from a septic tank being discharged into the ocean, To make matters worse, there snorkellers in the water only metres After looking around and inspecting more resorts inthe area, Don realised that most resorts don't ave adequate waste water treatment facilites. The jollutants and excess nutrients that are discharged into the marine environment can have a detrimental impact upon reefs, sea lfe, and also upon tourists getting into the water Many places address this issue by using a septic tank buried in the sand with overflow directly into the ‘earby sand. The outfall or effluent from these buried tanks usually either collects in the island's freshwater system, or if the island is small enough, flows out from the sand to the reef flats at low tide. Since there is not enough retention time within the sand for nutrients to decompose, excessive nutrient and bacteria levels inevitably build up in the marine To address this issue, Don and his colleagues designed 2 unique systom using gravel and plants to process waste water - the Hydroponics Waste Water Treatment System ("HTS") In short, the HTS runs waste water through @ series of tanks containing gravel, micro-organisms and ‘The Hydroponics Waste Water Treatment System (CHTS") at work plants to act as @ waste processing and fitering system, After many months of testing, Don and his colleagues determined the optimal configuration and quantities required, and succeeded in bringing ammonis, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate snd bacterial levels to near zero. Even better, some resorts have begun to adopt the system. Kapalai Dive Resort and Lankayan Island Dive Resort in Sabah, Malaysia are two examples. Hopetully more dive resorts will consider taking similar steps to ensure continued health of marine ecosystems! aq PET CUE TTC lec resorts that care. aoe Pend i , 1 Ceara tins mayjune 2008.