That's certainly not a pleasant thing. But those things are very small compared to the flow of the river. They may present more of an aesthetic problem than anything else. Fitch said even if dumping of raw sewage triggers little widespread impact, the practice still poses significant dangers. We are proven environments for bugs.
Human feces are prime sources to infect other humans.
You want waters to be fishable and swimmable to the point where you can swim without the high probability of infections. Jeff Wells, an attorney who lives two blocks from the Muskingum River in McConnelsville, said untreated sewage presents a problem. When the river water level is low, just ride the Muskingum, and you will see pipes coming out of the ground. These are not water runoff pipes. They are what locals refer to as straight pipes for dumping untreated sewage.