Plages Propres Montreux: Shotgun Shells, Biofilters, Cotton Swabs, and a Cigarette Butt or 2

14 juin 2015 Rive droite, Baye de Montreux

Plages Propres CH has been consistently collecting macro pollutant data along the shores of Lac Leman since 2014, primarily focusing on the strand-line where material is being deposited on the shores by wave action. The strand-line is often neglected by communal waste collectors as the material is generally small, often less than 5 cm and time intensive due to the abundance. After 9 months of data collection, trends are becoming apparent. Identifying the pollutants found along the shores of the Haut Lac offers an opportunity to determine the source thereby offering the possibility of remediation.

The source of many streams and the Rhone is Suisse, the material found along shores of the Haut Lac is likely coming from a relatively local source. It is evident that beach-goers and boardwalk traffic is responsible for relevant quantities of trash. Additionally storm drains are a major conduit as material is deposited directly and indirectly, mainly during rain events as street storm drains flow directly into the streams which empty into the lake. Which explains the massive quantities of cigarette butts found in the strand-lines.

7 juillet 2015 Rive droite, Baye de Montreux

Ligne de dépôts du rivage 20 m X 2 m

438 megot

December 21, 2014 left bank of La Baye de Montreux

Q-tips/Cotons tiges = 61

Removed from 100 cm x 60 cm of strand-line

La Baye de Montreux rive droite, 14 juin 2015

Biological media filters are used to treat surface water and secondary effluent at municipal sewage treatment plants. The systems use floating plastic media for the removal of suspended solids in surface water and precipitated phosphorus from secondary effluent in sewage treatment plants. The plastic bio-filters media filters are found on the lake shores at every collection and at each of our 4 sites along the Haut Lac between La Baye de Montreux to La Tour de Peilz they also are found at le Petit Lac site. Both the source and quantity is disturbing, the source of these pollutants are likely from local waste-water treatment plants. Questions arise as to how and why they are allowed to be discharged into the lake directly or indirectly and how much biological material is discharged with them. An additional correlation is that they are always found with large quantities of cotton swabs remnants indicating waste-water treatment plant discharge.

Cotton swabs also known by the brand name Q-tip are found in large quantities along all Haut Lac sites. Again the quantity and source is alarming, as these are being flushed into toilets and turning up in the lake. On several occasions with the cotton still attached which indicates that the used Q-tip did not spend much time, if any in the waste treatment process and may have been directly diverted to the stream or lake along with untreated waste. The quantities range from 6-60 every collection.

Plastic shot gun shells another unusual and abundant pollutant are the remnants of plastic shot gun shell wads. These are found along the shores of the Haut Lac at each site and at every collection as well as at Le Petit Lac site. The source of these is not evident, likely fluvial in origin. They are predominately in the strand-line and appear to have been in the water for a length of time before being deposited on the shore. There are many shooting ranges in canton Vaud and Valais perhaps they are the source.