In Response: What are the challenges and prospects? A governmental perspective

摘要

Water quality has improved greatly in recent decades, not least because of the upgrading of municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). However, many compounds (micropollutants), such as endocrine disruptors, biocides, and pharmaceuticals, can still be detected in Swiss surface waters. Persistent substances that are easily soluble in water are of particular concern (see International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine). Treated municipal wastewater and diffuse inputs from agriculture and urban areas have been identified as the main sources of most of the analyzed substances. The Rhine River, for example, receives the highest loads of pharmaceuticals from the discharge of treated wastewater.