WHAT ARE THE CAUSES OF BEACH CLOSURES AND WATER POLLUTION?
This picture represents a sewer overflow. The discharge water is from one of Saipan’s sewer lines during a pump station failure. These waters have high levels of harmful bacteria that may lead to the “red flag” closure of some of our beaches. Additionally, these waters contain high levels of nutrients that negatively affect our lagoon and coral reefs. This picture represents “brown” runoff that many of us have seen during large rainstorms. The brown color is from rainwater that is carrying sediments from exposed upland areas. Sediments are harmful to our beach waters because they can have high levels of nutrients and bacteria attached to the particles, and can also bury marine life. This picture represents a “soup” of urban runoff from Garapan. Often times if you look in the drainages during a rain storm you can see trash and debris floating out to our ocean. What you can’t see is the contents of the water. As the rainwater passes over unsanitary piles of trash it can pick up and carry
