Good practice:

LIFE PharmDegrade - Degradation of pharmaceuticals in wastewaters from nursing homes and hospitals

The systemic control of pharmaceuticals in waters remains unregulated in the EU. Common biological wastewater treatment plants are usually insufficiently equipped to treat pharmaceuticals and sometimes produce metabolites that are often more problematic than the pollutant treated.
The LIFE PharmDegrade project’s main aim was to introduce an efficient and financially viable technology for the removal of pharmaceuticals (PH) from the effluent of wastewater treatment plants. The project technology was based on the advanced oxidation processes (AOP) associated with electrochemical degradation of PH, using different electrodes (graphite electrodes, mixed metal oxide electrodes and boron-doped diamond electrodes). The project aimed to demonstrate this technology on a sufficiently large scale to fully evaluate its effectiveness and economic viability. The aim was to demonstrate a solution that is applicable to all wastewater containing PH and other persistent substances, which also include wastewater from old people’s homes and hospitals in the EU.
The LIFE PharmDegrade project created a pilot plant to demonstrate a novel technology using electro-chemical oxidation for the removal of pharmaceutical residuals from the effluents of wastewater treatment plants.

Planned justified costs of the project: 1.217.000 EUR, co-financing by the European Comission (the LIFE+ program) 45%.

The technology was shown to be flexible, suitable for different applications, with low maintenance costs and high efficiency. The trial showed that up to 90% of all tested pharmaceutical residuals could be removed in a cost-effective way. The project also contributed to improved common knowledge of the presence of pharmaceuticals in wastewater and to the newly established EU Watch List on priority substances and it is expected to lead to the improvement of relevant standards at national level.

The pilot plant can be used to demonstrate the technology to potential investors and be easily transported to any suitable location for further testing and evaluation. Its modular design also enables easy upgrade for further improvements of the technology and also for testing other similar water treatment technologies.
Company ARHEL, the coordinating beneficiary, active in developing, manufacturing and selling high-tech electronic products. In recent years, plans to commercialise the technology and to file a patent protection for individual components. A well-attended final conference confirmed the great interest in the issue of pharmaceutical residuals and several potential end-users have already expressed interest in carrying out further tests. They have ongoing projects on developing a system based on electrochemical degradation of persistent pollutants from the water applicable in the process of wastewater treatment as well as in the preparation of drinking water.