The presence of artificial sweeteners has revealed that at least 13 percent of septic system wastewater from rural Southern Ontario homes eventually makes its way into local streams.
In a recent study, researchers at the University of Waterloo used the presence of artificial sweeteners excreted from humans to identify the wastewater content in streams across rural Southern Ontario.
“Artificial sweeteners are one of the best tracers of wastewater in the environment because they don’t completely break down in the body or in wastewater treatment systems,” said John Spoelstra, an adjunct professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Waterloo. “They are prevalent in many common consumer products, so we find them in every wastewater sample we look at.
“In many cases, residual artificial sweeteners are the most reliable indicator of the waters’ septic system origin once released into the environment.”
This
research,
done
in
coordination
with
Environment
and
Climate
Change
Canada,
found
that
91
percent
of
the
stream
samples
tested
contained
artificial
sweeteners.
The
amount
of
artificial
sweeteners
present
allowed
researchers
to
calculate
that
approximately
13
percent
of
the
septic
wastewater
generated
in
Southern
Ontario
is
eventually
transported
to
streams
through
groundwater.
“High
levels
of
sweeteners
indicate
an
elevated
presence
of
wastewater
in
the
stream,”
said
Spoelstra.
“Therefore,
in
some
cases,
more
testing
may
be
warranted
to
ensure
that
harmful
wastewater
contaminants,
such
as
pathogens
and
pharmaceuticals,
are
not
present.
“The prevalence of artificial sweeteners in streams around rural Southern Ontario is a reminder that our water use is a cycle, and what we put into our environment doesn’t just disappear.”
The study Septic systems contribute artificial sweeteners to streams through groundwater was recently published in the Journal of Hydrology X by Water Institute member Sherry Schiff, John Spoelstra and Susan Brown.