Water Quality District - Nutrients
Algae need nutrients to grow, and when there are too many nutrients, excessive algae grow in surface water, fouling our beautiful rivers, lakes and streams, and negatively impacting fish and other aquatic life.
The Clark Fork River system has excessive nutrient levels, and has been protected by a Voluntary Nutrient Reduction Program (VNRP) to control nutrient pollution. Under this program, major entities that contribute nutrient pollution to the Clark Fork River signed an agreement to reduce nutrient loads.
Nutrients can also contaminate drinking water, and certain forms are suspected of contributing to some human diseases.
Two of the main plant nutrients, nitrogen and phosphorus, are major components of sewage, and are also released to the environment from many other human activities.
You can make a difference by following some of these tips to minimize the amount of nutrients you contribute.
Fertilize Wisely
Use only the required amount of fertilizer, and fertilize at the most
effective times. The County Extension Office has information on
fertilizing in Missoula.
Click on this link for information.
Use Low Phosphate or P Free Dishwashing Detergent
Missoula adopted a phosphate ordinance that banned phosphorus in laundry detergents in 1988, significantly reducing the load of phosphorus discharging to the river. Automatic dishwasher detergents were not covered by this ban, however. Brands differ widely in phosphorus content, and there are some very effective phosphate-free brands (Seventh Generation and Ecover are examples of brands that have been found to perform well). Read the ingredients label and choose brands with no or low phosphorous content.
Maintain Your Septic System
Septic systems and soil under the drainfields remove some of the nutrients from sewage before the effluent discharges into groundwater and surface water. When a septic system is not functioning properly wastewater is not properly treated, greatly increasing the amount of nutrients, bacteria and other pollutants flowing to groundwater and surface water.
Have your system inspected and serviced every three years at a minimum.
The Missoula Wastewater Treatment Plant has recently upgraded its treatment system to include biological nutrient removal. This should significantly reduce the nutrients discharged from wastewater received through the municipal sewer system.
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