STAznanost

New pollutants in focus of Bled Water Festival

Bled, 13 June - The Bled Water Festival, which opened on Thursday, is focusing on water pollution with new pollutants such as microplastics and pharmaceuticals. More research into new pollutants is needed and ways to remove them from water have to be developed, forum participants said.

The 9th edition of the two-day festival is focusing on the question of new pollutants in water, which are not yet regulated by the EU, and their impact on people and the environment, said festival co-founder Marko Gajić at a press conference at the start of the forum.

In addition to different innovations for elimination of new pollutants, the forum is presenting a proposal to amend existing legislation.

Scientists are detecting more fertiliser, pharmaceuticals residue and microplastics in water, said Alistair Boxall, professor of environmental science at the University of York. People use these substances regularly but their presence in water has not been regulated in the past, he said.

Microplastics and similar pollutants can be present in rivers and lakes even if they are in the mountains and not near any factories, said Boxall.

Research has shown that the water in English national parks, which is believed to be clean and thus has no water treatment plants, also contains pharmaceutiacals, said Boxall. Drinking such water every day likely has an impact on health, he added.

Bathing in rivers and lakes can also be a problem said Boxall. "We mostly pay attention to the safety of waters, not to the effect of swimmers on the water, which can be polluted with remains of sunscreen and other substances that are toxic for water organisms," said Boxall.

The new pollutants will be better regulated and monitored in the future. Until the Covid-19 pandemic only the classic pollutants in water were monitored, said head of the Argentinian Water Chamber Gonzalo Meschengieser, adding that since the pandemic they have started looking for other substances, such as drugs, medicine, pesticides, fertilisers and microplastics.

"We use different methods to detect new pollutants but we have not yet developed a technology to successfully remove these substances from the water," said Meschengieser.

This year representatives from 25 countries are participating in the forum, as well as ministries from nine countries and many other national institutions and experts.

For the First Lady of Iceland and UN Ambassador for Tourism and Sustainable Development Goals Eliza Jean Reid, the most important message of the forum is that "we can be proud of the cleanliness of our environment but we cannot rest on out laurels, we have to learn how to protect our natural resources".

In Iceland, where tourism is one of the main industries, the importance of natural resources is evident. Nature is one of the main reasons to visit Iceland and that includes its waters, especially glaciers and waterfalls, Reid said.