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This picture shows the difference between the high tide water line and the sewage pit servicing cottage # 20.  The row of leaves indicates the tide line and the sign indicates the location of the sewage pit. Note the yellow ruler in front of the sign on the right: the difference is seven feet from the center of the sewage pit to the water line. Keep in mind that on Hen Island the water table is two feet at this location and the top of the sewage pit is two feet below the beach level. That means the sewage enters the water as soon as it enters the pit!

This problem impacts us all.  Raw sewage contains high numbers of bacteria that cause typhoid fever, dysentery, diarrhea and cholera, and viruses that cause hepatitis.  Studies have shown that from 10,000 to 100,000 infectious doses of hepatitis virus are emitted from each gram of feces of a patient with this disease.  Some viruses will live as long as 41 days in water or sewage and for six days in a normal river.