Researchers from the University of Coimbra (UC) have developed an innovative treatment that uses the biofiltration of the Asian clam to remove drugs from wastewater, the institution announced today.
This work, by a group of researchers from the UC Faculty of Science and Technology (FCTUC), in collaboration with the UC Faculty of Pharmacy (FFUC), is being developed as part of the project “Development of biofiltration strategies for water recovery”, one of the winners of the 4th edition of the University of Coimbra’s Seed Project Awards for Interdisciplinary Scientific Research.
The project “aims to take advantage of the Asian clam, giving it an application and, at the same time, helping to combat it, since it is an invasive species”, with the aim of removing drugs from wastewater, allowing it to be reused more safely, explains João Gomes, a researcher at the Chemical Engineering and Renewable Resources for Sustainability Center of the Chemical Engineering Department, quoted in a UC press release.
So far, four laboratory trials have been carried out, in which the effectiveness of this process was tested for 24 and 48 hours and also with reused clams, and 17 compounds belonging to six different pharmaco-therapeutic groups were detected, 11 of which were successfully removed by the clams, reveals FFUC professor André Pereira, also quoted in the press release.
According to the project’s researchers, there is no considerable difference in the times tested.
“We obtained an average removal rate of 44% in 24 hours and in 48 hours the percentage was 46, in other words, the increase in time didn’t lead to any significant differences,” which, “despite sounding abstract, is a good thing, because it means that the volume of water to be retained in the treatment is smaller,” they assure.
“This system clearly works well,” they stress.
According to João Gomes, “the big challenge was to build an efficient biofilter that would allow the clam to be retained, because as an invasive species it is important that it is not released into the environment, only into the treated water”.
The aim of this project is to prevent future environmental problems, but also animal and human health problems, which, for André Pereira, are inseparable factors, the issue of pharmaceuticals being a good example.
“What happens is that after we take them, they go to the WWTP [wastewater treatment plant] and from there to the river, affecting the animal ecosystem, the environment and, later, our health, through the river water that is taken for human consumption.”
“It’s always important to realize that we are working on these three aspects, which are inseparable,” he concludes.
