Treatment of Shipboard Wastes
JOHN W. HERNANDEZ, Associate Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
New Mexico State University
EDWARD T. KINNEY, Supervisory Marine Engineer
Naval Ship Engineering Center
Department of the Navy
Washington, D. C.
HAROLD H. SINGERMAN, Supervisory Chemical Engineer
U. S. Navy Marine Engineering Laboratory
Annapolis, Maryland
INTRODUCTION
Heads of departments and agencies of the Executive Branch have been directed
by an Executive Order (1) to ' provide leadership in the nationwide effort to improve water quality through prevention, control and abatement of water pollution
from federal Government activities in the United States." Section 8 of this order
directs the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare to".... make a comprehensive study of the problem of water pollution within the United States caused by
the operation of vessels, and shall develop such recommendations for corrective
or preventive action as may be appropriate, including recommendations with respect to vessels operated by any department, agency or establishment of the
Federal Government." It is clearly evident that the traditional practice of discharging shipboard wastes directly overboard must be discontinued. The purpose
of this paper is to present the naval shipboard sewage disposal problem and the
work being done to determine a solution.
Although individual states have jurisdiction over inland and adjacent coastal
waters, Federal law is looked to in most cases involving navigable waters in which
the Navy primarily operates. There are two Federal acts which relate specifically
to discharge of sewage by naval vessels. The first is the River and Harbors Act
(Sec. 13, 33 USC 407) of March 3, 1899, which provides as follows: "It shall not
be lawful to throw, discharge, or deposit .... from or out of any ship, barge, or
other floating craft   any refuse matter of any kind or description whatever
other than that flowing from streets and sewers and passing therefrom in a liquid
state into any navigable water of the United States."
The second is the Water Pollution Control Act of 1956 which requires that:
"any Federal department or agency having jurisdiction over any building, installation, or other property shall, insofar as practicable and consistent with the interests of the United States and within any available appropriations, cooperate
with the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare .... in preventing or
controlling the pollution of such waters."
As a consequence of the phenomenal increase in small boat registry in the
last decade and the resulting increased recreational use of our inland and coastal
waterways, the public has become aware of the seriousness of water borne pollution sources. The magnitude of this problem may be judged by the activity of
several state and Federal agencies during the last five years to call attention to
this form of pollution. Eighteen states have laws specifically prohibiting the discharge of raw sewage from boats and craft. Similar legislation is pending in other
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