Question

Briefly, but informatively, discuss the presence of organic contaminants as known as emerging contaminants such as drugs in water systems. (10)

Answer 1

Some chemicals that we use in our everyday lives including medicines (such as prescription and non-prescription drugs), personal hygiene products (for example, soaps, disinfectants) and their chemical additives (such as preservatives) are present in the environment and associated with various sources such as municipal wastewater treatment plants, runoff from agricultural and urban land surfaces, and septic systems. These contaminants are referred to collectively as “contaminants of emerging concern” and represent a shift in traditional thinking as many are produced industrially yet are dispersed to the environment from domestic uses.

Potential water quality contaminants are flushed into ground water from a variety of sources. The most common are wastewater from sewage treatment plants, run-off from agricultural land uses, particularly from industrial scale livestock facilities, and discharge from individual septic systems. Conventional sewage treatment varies greatly in its ability to eliminate drug or personal care product residues.

For example, antibotics are common in the general population and are used on farms to prevent disease in livestock and poultry. It is not surprising to find antibiotics in the wastewater from a local sewage treatment plant, from your own septic tank or in water sources near a farm where livestock or poultry are regularly dosed.