Wastewater Reuse - Investigation of ChallengesandRisks

Wastewater reuse for drinking water production is already a reality in many regions of the world. Treated wastewater infiltrates into the soil and is extracted from the aquifer as new drinking water. “Short cuts” of this kind are partly very welcome in arid areas, only the recycling has to be carried out in a safe and sustainableway.  Replies to questions on the operation and the safety of such measures are being worked out since October 2006 by the European research project “RECLAIM WATER”
with the collaboration of TU Berlin. Coordinated by RWTH Aachen samples are taken from running projects worldwide at six large demonstration sites and potentials for technical improvements are derived. With partners from EAWAG,UNESCO-IHE and the Federal Institute of Hydrology in Koblenz, TU Berlin is developing analytical methods for trace organic pollutants like antibiotics, as well as for bulk organic parameters. Parallel to this the occurrence of genetic resistances against respective antibiotics in the treated water is analysed. First positive results indicate the relevance of this problematic forsomesites investigated.