Troubled Waters on Cape Cod: Sticker Shock (Part 2)

Cape Cod’s famed ponds and bays are suffering from pollution with a
curious origin: human urine. Household septic systems are flushing
nitrogen into the water, resulting in toxic algal blooms. In the
second installment of our three-part Fascination series about Cape
Cod’s “yellow tide,” environmental reporter Barbara Moran looks at
the controversial and costly pollution solutions being considered.
You can check out more of Barbara Moran’s reporting on the efforts
to improve Cape Cod’s water pollution, including a “pee-cycling”
project being considered by one innovative town. And watch WBUR and
Scientific American’s documentary short exploring how pollution and
algae overgrowth threaten this Massachusetts vacation hub. Email us
at sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or
ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new everyday:
subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for our daily
newsletter.  This series is a co-production of WBUR and
Scientific American. It’s reported and hosted by WBUR’s Barbara
Moran. Science Quickly is produced by Jeff DelViscio, Kelso Harper,
Madison Goldberg and Rachel Feltman. Our theme music was composed
by Dominic Smith. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-checked
this series, and Duy Linh Tu and Sebastian Tuinder contributed
reporting and sound. WBUR’s Kathleen Masterson edited this series.
Additional funding was provided by the Pulitzer Center. Learn more
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