Water filter drug residues 1 opinion : necessary

How do drug residues get into our drinking water and is a home water filter drug residues necessary?

A water filter medicine residue drinking water is necessary. People take medicine and then urinate. Less than 25% of the medicine is absorbed by the body, the remainder is excreted in your urine. Water treatment by water utilities removes traces of medicines for 70% and so they remain in our drinking water for 30%. So filtering medicine residues from water at home yourself is not an unnecessary luxury. It is expected to take at least another 10 years before the percentage moves towards an average of 80% due to 1.5 million investment per treatment plant.

What is the central government doing to improve drinking water quality?

The central government wants the quality of Dutch drinking water improve. And keeping drinking water clean. It does this together with:

• Rijkswaterstaat.
• RIVM.
• Provinces and municipalities.
• Healthcare sector.
• Regional water boards.
• The 10 water companies.

Among the measures they are taking in the chain are the following:

• The water department develops new methods to filter wastewater as efficiently as possible.
• More and more hospitals are filtering their own wastewater before discharging it.
• Remaining medication should be disposed of appropriately (via residual waste or return to pharmacy).

With all due respect, the impact of the government's 2018-2022 policy plan to solve medicine residues from water filtering centrally by water utilities is still years away. The water treatment plants of water utilities are not going to solve this problem anytime soon. A water filter medicine residues at home in your own home does solve this problem immediately.

What does the RIVM say about drug residues in drinking water?

Drug residues enter surface water through the patient's urine via the wastewater system. According to RIVM, medicine residues pose a potential danger to animals and plants living in surface waters. Concentrations of many drug residues often exceed the risk limit. These include in particular anti-epileptics, antidepressants, antibiotics, blood pressure reducers and painkillers.

This is according to research by RIVM and Deltares on medicine residues in surface water. In 2017 and 2018, concentrations of 19 different substances exceeded the risk limit one or more times. Many medicine residues have very low risk limits. Water managers are not always able to detect substances at these low levels. Moreover, only 80 out of 500 drug substances were included is these studies.

At least 190 tonnes of medicine residues remain in water surfaces every year, according to the RIVM. The actual amount of medicine residues in surface waters is even higher, as current estimates mainly relate to prescription drugs from community pharmacies. The use of over-the-counter medicines and specialist care is not well known. Degradation products that can regain the form of the original active substance in water are not considered. Overall, this could lead to an additional amount of medicine residues above 190 tonnes of another 50 to 500 tonnes per year. Having a water filter medicine residues at home prevents you from ingesting medicines prescribed for other people.

What are water boards doing with technological water treatment innovation?

The frontrunner is Waterschap Amstel Gooi en Vecht (AGV) since the opening in February 2024 of a new water treatment plant at 1 of its 11 locations. AGV is now able to filter 80% of medicine residues from water. Cost €1.5 million per site. By 2035 at the latest, all 11 sites will be equipped with this new water treatment technology. The chemical compounds of both pesticides and medicine residues are cut into pieces by ozone gas bubbles after which an advanced carbon filter does its job to capture the chemicals.

Elsewhere in the country, only 70% of medicine residues are filtered out of water by water boards. With an ageing population, increasing medicine use and stricter European legislation valid from 2027 on environmental pollution of water in nature, there is work to be done for water boards. The Netherlands is opting for centralised treatment plants while abroad, decentralised water treatment at the end point - your kitchen tap - was already chosen 25 years ago and this technology has been continuously developed. You can conceptually compare it to choosing a mainframe or a personal computer.

How do drug residues in your drinking water affect health?

Of particular importance is female sex hormone oestrogen which is the main component of the contraceptive pill. Levels are starting to rise to the point where some scientists worry they will start to have noticeable effects. Just by drinking tap water. Many of the drugs in drinking water are hormones that affect human growth. For example, it is believed that the increase of oestrogen in drinking water supply, may be responsible for young girls reaching puberty earlier. Women may also find it harder to get pregnant and men may develop feminine characteristics in addition to decreasing sperm quantity.

In short, the human race drinking tap water is feminised by these hormones. And this is just one type of drug. Who knows the effects that the vast number of antibiotics and steroids, to name just two other classes, will have on humans. The best way to avoid the situation is to keep drugs out of the water cycle in the first place. However, this is practically impossible. Hospitals have a role to play in this and should be required to treat the wastewater containing drug residues themselves despite contributing only 10 per cent to drug residue pollution.

Water filter drug residues at home?

A water filter drug residues we offer in the Alpha Water Ioniser. It features a patented 10-step filtration system. It has a coolant section and an additional section to capture nano plastic and nano asbestos particles.

On the outside, the filter looks like this:

A water filter lead we thought we didn't need any more until in 2020 in Amsterdam Noord, tens of thousands of households were suddenly affected. Before proper treatment plants for medicine residues are realised at all locations of all water boards, we are at least 10 years down the road. Also consider applying your own medicine residue filtering from water. Take matters into your own hands and purchase a water ioniser with built-in patented technology from abroad for home or work. Oxygen-rich vital water as well as pure water through built-in water filter drug residues!