Pristine, from English 'pristine', means "old, first, primitive, original". Something that remains unchanged. However, an element like water, currently, is far from being pristine. It's time to face a new challenge for blue gold.
In recent times there is talk of some -there are more- guilty of the deterioration of water. They are not new, nor unique, but they emerge due to technological advances and can now be known in more detail. They are worrisome and may pose a certain risk to human health and the environment, but there is still no certainty about their real impact or a specific regulation to stop their expansion. And the water crisis that the planet is facing, both due to the scarcity in many regions and the levels of contamination detected in the water, raise concerns about a paradoxical concept: few people will be familiar with it, but everyone participates, voluntarily or involuntarily, of its peak -unfortunately-. They are the emergent components. Long and convoluted names, but commonly used, such as ciprofloxacin, diclofenac, amoxicillin or estrones. The list is long.
They are everyday gestures. The use of insecticides and herbicides, the application of a photoprotector on the skin, or the taking of antibiotics or antidepressants can trigger negative effects in the water. And it is that many known substances, present in very small concentrations in water, behave as endocrine disruptors and there is already some evidence of their imprint, without knowing the exact risks.
Thanks to the technique of mass spectrometry, today it is possible to detect and measure these residues "that have been generating interest for some time to identify, quantify and see how they move within different states, masses or forms of the environment", says Mar Micó, Researcher of 'Life Pristine', an innovation project led by Acciona that seeks to eliminate emerging contaminants from purified and drinkable water. The European Commission, within its action plan to achieve zero pollution by 2050, already warned of pollutants of emerging concern. The growing interest also responds to the current, critical water context, which requires agile and effective movements in the reuse of treated water and purification. "The reduction of water can increase the concentrations of emerging pollutants, so the negative effect can be greater," says Ana Jiménez, coordinator of the project.
The difficulty of the challenge is capital, and the precision to study these tiny components, surgical. Micó visualizes it with an enlightening fact: "these compounds are as small as seven grains of sand in an Olympic swimming pool" -it can hold 2.5 million liters-. However, 'Life Pristine', in a consortium that brings together Acciona together with Eurecat, NX Filtration, Xylem and the Regional Entity for Sanitation and Wastewater Treatment of the Murcia region, has a clear goal: to eliminate, at least in 80%, emerging pollutants in residual and drinking water, with an operational improvement of 30%. The impossibility of achieving total eradication responds to this difficulty in monitoring, warns Micó: "We don't want to be triumphalists because there are limitations that mean that some components cannot even be detected."
The project started in August 2022 and will last for four years to "exhaustively identify emerging contaminants in the water and provide the information to the competent bodies that facilitate regulation in this area", say both managers of Acciona. 'Life Pristine' will be the basis for analyzing how to eliminate, or minimize, the presence of emerging contaminants in water. Based on the data obtained, the consortium will investigate three lines of work: nanofiltration, advanced oxidation and absorbents. “We want to integrate all the technologies properly,” insist the Acciona researchers, who will have artificial intelligence tools to predict the substances.
The study has a double perspective: on the one hand, the Ceutí treatment plant, in Murcia, where emerging pollutants in wastewater are examined; on the other, the Bilbao Bizkaia Advanced Water Treatment Center, where it is analyzed in purification. Both points are the base of operations during the twelve months of testing phase and preliminary measurements. The information extracted will contribute to promoting regulations that guarantee the quality and safety of water. "We are looking for that idea of clean and pure water that we want for our children," the researchers warn.
