PharmWat2017 - Prague, Czech Republic

The conference is organized by the European Water Association (EWA), International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH), and Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic. It is supported by the European Federation for Freshwater Sciences (EFFS), the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Limnologie (DGL, German Association for Limnology), the Gesellschaft für Ökologie (GfÖ, The Ecological Society of Germany, Austria and Switzerland), and other institutions.

Objectives
PharmWat2017 focuses on the comprehensive issue of occurrence of pharmaceutical residues in the water environment. This is done by considering the entire pathway of pharmaceutical residues from their source (human use of medicines, agriculture, etc.) as sewage water to waste water treatment plants releasing their effluent to surface waters and groundwater, this water being used as source for drinking water production, ending up with drinking water that may contain pharmaceutical residues. The effect of pharmaceuticals on flora and fauna in aquatic ecosystems is also considered.

The conference aims to intensify contacts between professionals, scientists, engineers, water managers (river basin administrators, etc.) and policy makers involved in the field (conference themes) of
(A) wastewater treatment,
(B) surface waters,
(C) groundwater,
(D) drinking water supply,
(E) aquatic ecosystems, and
(F) legislation (setting water quality standards).

Target groups and keywords

Target groups are professionals, scientists, engineers, water managers (river basin administrators, etc.) and policy makers involved in the themes (A) wastewater treatment, (B) surface waters, (C) groundwater, (D) drinking water supply, (E) aquatic ecosystems, and (F) legislation (setting water quality standards).

It includes activities characterised by the following keywords: pharmaceuticals, hormones, pharmaceutical residues, water quality, drinking water quality, hydrology, geohydrology, unsaturated zone, subsurface environment (porous medium, fractured-rock medium), groundwater, surface waters, drinking water, monitoring, modelling, transport in groundwater, decay and transformation processes, metabolites, chemistry, hydrochemistry, biohydrochemistry, geochemistry, waste water treatment, drinking-water production, environmental impact, aquatic ecosystems, ecotoxicological effects.
The following Themes and Topics are the core of the conference

Theme A: REMOVAL OF PHARMACEUTICALS IN WASTE WATER TREATMENT PLANTS

A1 Development of analytical methods for detection of pharmaceutical residues in water

A2 Removal efficiency of selected treatment processes in regard to pharmaceuticals

A3 Removal mechanisms in mechanical-biological waste water treatment plants

A4 Advanced measures for municipal waste water treatment

A5 Legislation and economic aspects

Theme B: PHARMACEUTICALS IN SURFACE WATERS

B1 Transport, bio-degradation, sorption, breakdown and other processes governing the fate, persistence and distribution of pharmaceuticals in surface waters

B2 Monitoring of pharmaceuticals in surface waters

B3 Case studies on surface waters contaminated by pharmaceuticals

Theme C: PHARMACEUTICALS IN GROUNDWATER

C1 Transport, bio-degradation, sorption, breakdown and other processes governing the fate, persistence and distribution of pharmaceuticals in groundwater

C2 Monitoring of pharmaceuticals in groundwater

C3 Removal of pharmaceuticals from groundwater

C4 Case studies on groundwater contaminated by pharmaceuticals

Theme D: PHARMACEUTICALS IN DRINKING WATER PRODUCTION

D1 Removal efficiency of selected treatment processes in regard to pharmaceuticals

D2 Warning systems and water quality monitoring

D3 Comprehensive risk assessment and risk management approach

D4 Legislation and economic aspects

Theme E: EFFECT OF PHARMACEUTICALS ON PLANT AND ANIMAL LIFE IN ECOSYSTEMS

E1 Toxicological data and their interpretation

E2 Precautionary principle, prioritization

E3 Combination toxicology: Definition and problems

E4 Effects of pharmaceuticals aquatic ecotoxicology

E5 Aquatic ecosystem responses under multi-stress conditions

E6 Ecotoxicological effects of pharmaceuticals in aquatic ecosystem – from molecules to complex water bodies

E7 Ecotoxicological responses to pharmaceuticals and aquatic ecosystem services

E8 Effect of pharmaceuticals on biodiversity

Theme F: LEGISLATION FOR PHARMACEUTICALS IN GROUNDWATER, SURFACE WATER AND DRINKING WATER

F1 National and EU regulations – history and future

F2 Guidelines and standards regarding content of anthropogenic constituents in water

F3 Medicine take-back programmes

F4 Good manufacturing practices