Sewage-Related Impact on Kuwait's Marine Environment – A Case Study

Abstract

This paper overviews the marine environmental impacts associated with Kuwait's liquid wastes, whose volume has grown considerably over the last two decades and is expected to grow further. The characteristics of local sewage, its collection, handling and treatment practices, and routes of input into the local marine environment are described. Realized or potential environmental impacts are discussed. Sewage discharge has been found to exert different impacts on Kuwait's marine environment, ranging from fish kills and localized smothering of benthic organisms and microbial pollution to potential wider impacts on overall marine productivity. These impacts are due to a combination of unique local environmental conditions (e.g., high ambient air temperatures, high rates of dust fallout and creeping sands, and prevalence of wide intertidal flats) and specific problems in the sewage works (high strength and anaerobicity of sewage, lack of alternative routes from peripheral pumping stations to a central treatment plant that is biochemically overloaded, emergency discharge through short outfalls onto wide intertidal flats, and discharges from premises that are not connected to a sewerage scheme). Recommendations to alleviate these impacts are summarized.