Waste of toilets to the detriment of corals

2002/08/13 Elhuyar Zientzia

• Biologia
• Ozeanografia
• Ingurumena

A study reveals that Florida's coastal corals are affected by bacteria and human deejection virus. In the last five years, half of the Florida corals have disappeared and the situation in the world is not much better. Among the causes are pollution, overfishing and climate change, but some Florida authorities have not wanted to know anything about domestic wastewater. It is considered that these waters can reach areas with corals, but their detection is very difficult. For this reason, researchers from the University of Georgia have focused on bacteria and human feces virus.

15 samples of corals near the coast have been taken and nine infected with fecal bacteria have been detected, having appeared virus in 14. The direct influence of wastewater on corals has not yet been analyzed, but it is known that fecal bacteria produce at least one disease that kills corals. Wastewater can also be a source of food for algae that kill corals.

Those responsible for the study have denounced the existence of more than 24,000 septic tanks and 10,000 illegal septic tanks in the Florida Sand Islands (Cayo).