There are more and more pharmaceutical residues in wastewater and water treatment plants can only clean a part of the substances. Researchers in Halmstad takes the help of nature.
In August starts researchers at Halmstad test how wetlands break down pharmaceutical residues in a plant outside Halmstad. Contaminated water should flow through the wetland for five days and the researchers will study the natural degradation of pharmaceutical substances as antibiotics, epilepsy medicines and painkillers.
degradation of drug in wetlands occur in several ways, such as via the biofilm (formed under the surface of the plant), the sunlight and that the plant itself will take up and break down.
Läkemedelsrester that comes with the urine, or flushed down the drain, affecting the aquatic animals negatively when they reach the waterways and can upset the ecosystem.
- If our study shows that wetlands are just as effective to break down pharmaceutical residues we predicted, so the water can be purified without adding unnecessary chemicals, says Per-Magnus Ehde, senior lecturer at the University of Halmstad.
The research project carries out in collaboration with researchers at the University of Kristianstad. The test period is between August and October. Results of the tests are expected to be ready in January in 2016.
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