Emerging contaminants

What are Emerging Contaminants?

Emerging Contaminants include natural or manufactured compounds such as pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and industrial chemicals that may pose a potential risk to human health or the environment. Some, like certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), are now well-recognized and regulated, while others are still emerging and additional research is required to better understand at what level these may pose a potential risk to human health or the environment.

Where do they come from?

Natural and manufactured compounds are being used in new and more intensive ways.

Emerging contaminants can come from everyday products and activities – like medicines, cleaning products, cosmetics, and chemicals used in homes, businesses, and agriculture. These compounds can end up in the environment through urban and agricultural runoff or in wastewater after people use them. Wastewater treatment plants are not the source, but they can act as a pathway for these substances to move into the environment.

It is important to note that the presence of emerging contaminants does not necessarily mean there is a risk to human health or the environment. Risk depends on the compound, concentration, and exposure (exposure route and duration).

What you can do

By taking care in how we use and dispose of chemicals and materials, we can help reduce the amount of emerging contaminants that enter the environment.

For example:

• Dispose of unwanted medicines at a pharmacy that is part of the Return Unwanted Medicines Program. Don’t flush them down the toilet or pour them down the sink.
• When you can, select environmentally friendly products for cleaning, washing clothes and dishes, and pest control.
• Regularly clean and maintain your washing machine filter, as it helps minimise fibres from your clothes and other items from entering the wastewater system. If your washing machine does not have a microfibre filter, you could consider installing an after-market filter.
• Minimise your use of plastic based materials and avoid buying items containing microbeads.
• Ask your local council how to dispose of household and garden chemicals, or take part in Sustainability Victoria’s ‘Detox your Home’ events. Do not tip them down your sink, toilet or stormwater drain.

Emerging contaminants and drinking water

We source most of the region’s drinking water from protected, forested catchments. These catchments provide a natural barrier against human derived contamination, resulting in a generally low risk profile for emerging contaminants in our drinking water supplies.

Nevertheless, we have systems in place to identify potential sources of contamination within these catchments and water is treated to comply with the limits set out in the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines.

The data collected as part of our routine water quality monitoring programs also guides our harvesting practices—choosing water sources that maintain high quality and minimise harvesting water with a lower quality.

After water is treated at our plants, it travels in a closed system to customers’ water meters to protect the quality of the water.

Emerging contaminants and wastewater treatment

Due to their widespread use, emerging contaminants may be present at trace levels in the wastewater we treat.

While our treatment plants were not originally designed specifically for management of emerging contaminants, our treatment processes can reduce, remove or destroy many of these compounds. However, trace amounts of some emerging contaminants can still be present in our treated wastewater.

Some of these compounds may end up in the sludge, which is a co-product of the treatment process. We treat our sludge via a thermal drying facility, and produce biosolid pellets for beneficial re-use, as fertiliser. All users of dried biosolids are required to adhere to strict environmental controls, including limiting application rates and monitoring of receiving site soils.

What are we doing about emerging contaminants

We are supporting and partnering with regulators, researchers and other water utilities to better understand the presence and potential risks posed by emerging contaminants in the environment.

We also continue to invest in research and development activities to build our current understanding of emerging contaminants and identify new developments and technologies that can help us minimise any potential impacts into the future.

We also support community education initiatives to promote responsible disposal of products to sewer and raise awareness about water quality.

For further information about our emerging contaminants research program, please email info@barwonwater.vic.gov.au

Further information about emerging contaminants can also be found on these websites:

CSIRO – Emerging Contaminants

EPA Victoria – Emerging Contaminants in Recycled Water

EPA Victoria – Emerging contaminants in wastewater and receiving surface water environments