Water Quality and Health | CREW | Scotland's Centre of Expertise for Waters

Research Funding cycle: 2022-27

CREW’s Water Quality and Health theme focusses on providing high quality science knowledge regarding:

• Water, wastewater and drainage
• Human and environmental health
• Epidemiology
• Contaminants in the environment

The projects undertaken within this theme support policy and regulation areas including:

• Drinking Water Directive
• Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive
• Water Framework Directive

• One Health Framework

Recent research published within this thematic area includes:

• Emerging contaminants: informing Scotland’s strategic monitoring and policy approaches to substances of increasing concern - the aim of this project was to inform, prioritise, and coordinate actionable monitoring and policy-based approaches to identify, assess, and mitigate risks from substances of increasing concern to Scotland’s water environment. The project team used a substance mapping approach, including literature review, an expert survey and a knowledge sharing workshop.

• Mitigating climate change impacts on the water quality of Scottish standing waters - this project explored adaptive strategies to mitigate climate change impacts on Scottish standing waters, focusing on reducing the likelihood of worsening algal blooms as water temperatures continue to rise.

• Advancing Risk Assessment and Source Characterisation of PFAS Contaminants in Scottish Drinking Water Supplies – recent projects focused on developing risk assessment approaches for PFAS and other watchlist contaminants in Scottish drinking water, providing timely knowledge on monitoring and assessing these pollutants under the recast Drinking Water Directive. Research investigates the sources, pathways, and fate of PFAS compounds to enhance understanding of their presence in drinking water supplies across Scotland:

1. Developing risk assessment approaches for PFAS and watch list parameters under the recast Drinking Water Directive

2. PFAS in drinking water supplies: A review of source, pathway, and fate for selected compounds

3. Developing risk assessment approaches for PFAS and watch list parameters under the recast Drinking Water Directive

Key legacy projects published within this thematic area include:

·2020 – 2022 - Advancing Wastewater-Based Surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 – the following three projects

1. SARS-CoV-2 monitoring in Scottish wastewater: Variant Detection – FAIR data Outputs and Lessons Learned

2. Aerosol/droplet sampling of wastewater for SARS-CoV-2

3. Tracking SARS-CoV-2 via Municipal Wastewater

advanced SARS-CoV-2 wastewater monitoring in Scotland, refining variant detection, exploring near-source aerosol sampling, and evaluating extraction methods. Findings inform future public health surveillance and pandemic preparedness.

• 2021 - Scottish One Health AMR Register (SOHAR) - this project developed the Scottish One Health AMR Register, mapping AMR research in Scotland to the UK Action Plan. Findings highlighted strengths in animal health and infection control but gaps in translational research.

• 2022 - Reducing Pharmaceutical Pollution in Scotland – these two projects assessed pharmaceutical pollution in Scotland, identifying key medicines of concern and barriers to eco-directed prescribing. A three-pronged framework is proposed to integrate environmental criteria into healthcare and reduce pollution:

1. Environmentally informed pharmaceutical prescribing in Scotland

2. Pharmaceuticals in the water environment: baseline assessment and recommendations

Topic Summary

Our Water Quality and Health theme aims to improve the understanding of the interrelationships between water quality and human/environmental health.

Our research supports key policies, including the Drinking Water Directive and the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive.