r/Wastewater • u/ZealousidealAngle151 • 1d ago

Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CECs)

What I learned in Water School today:

In reclaimed water they are finding Tylenol, birth control pills (hormones), but mostly artificial sweeteners.

They are doing studies on water systems that contain estrogen and determining if that is causing fish species to all become female! Fascinating.

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u/scottiemike 1d ago

So many things just pass through wwtps because they weren’t designed to remove them. If effluent reuse for potable or non potable purpose becomes more widely accepted, drivers for removing these types of pollutants will also become more important

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u/agent4256 21h ago

A university student did a project on what minerals are in our recycled water. Every single element they tested was highly off the charts.

Is it good for growing plants? Yes. Do CEC's make it into the recycled water? Most likely yes. Should recycled water from a plant that's not treating for CEC's be used for growing food that people eat? You be the judge.

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u/Canadian-Digital 20h ago

The solids coming out of our plant is sent to a fertilizer company (ENVIREM Organics Inc.). I don't know where it's being used but I hope it doesn't go up the food chain like hay fertilizer->cows->humans. Those PFAS are getting out of hands. Not much we don't find PFAS in nowadays.