Cape Cod is facing a severe nitrogen pollution crisis driven by the fact that an estimated 80% of nitrogen loading stems from traditional backyard septic systems, which aren't designed to remove it -- and that nitrogen flows straight into the Cape's ponds, bays, and estuaries, fueling toxic algal blooms that hurt our recreation, environment, and economy.

Massachusetts finalized a landmark watershed permitting framework requiring all 15 Cape towns to commit to long-term nitrogen reduction plans, meaning cleanup is no longer optional — every town is now bound by a state-approved remediation timeline.

Towns are beginning to install municipal sewers near dense village centers. Properties in more rural or spread-out areas will likely be reached by sewers over time, or required to install an 'innovative/alternative' septic system, a large underground installation that uses biological treatment to remove nitrogen on-site.

The sewering numbers are staggering and the timelines long; Barnstable alone faces a $1.4 billion, 30-year sewer buildout plan, and Cape-wide costs are expected to run into the tens of billions.

It depends. If you own a home in a town with a sewering mandate, there are a few scenarios:

Homeowner A: not in a sewer or sensitive area: pays the town’s tax increase to fund sewer pipes and water treatment

Homeowner B: in a gravity-line sewered area: pays what Homeowner A pays, plus the cost of connection engineering/design/installation, plus the cost of destroying their existing septic system, plus the cost of any plumbing work that must be done to accommodate the sewer hookup, plus the cost of any landscaping work that must be done/redone to accommodate sewer installation, plus the increased water bill

Homeowner C: in a sewered area against gravity: pays what Homeowner B pays, plus the cost of grinder pumps, plus the potential cost to upgrade their electric system to power the grinder pumps, plus the potential cost of backup generators to power the grinder pumps in the event of a power outage.

Homeowner D: in a sensitive but not-sewered area where I/A is required: pays what Homeowner A pays, plus the engineering/design/installation of an I/A (which can run in the tens of thousands of dollars), plus the cost of any landscaping work that must be done/redone to accommodate the I/A system.

Regulations vary by town, but generally under current regulations, no.

Source separation technologies, which prevent nitrogen from entering wastewater in the first place, are a promising and proven complement or alternative to conventional sewer and septic systems, usually at a fraction of the cost. But many are currently in regulatory limbo in Massachusetts. Learn more here [link coming soon].