An examination of Nature-Based Solutions’ ability to retain New and Emerging Pollutants – Preliminary results from a UK field test

New and Emerging Pollutants (NEPs) include a vast range of compounds which are often not included in water quality monitoring campaigns or legislation for environmental protection. Traditional water treatment systems are not designed to treat NEPs and previous research has highlighted that many NEPs can persist through them and enter the aquatic environment. NEPs then cause a range of sub-lethal negative effects on wild organisms. The issue of NEP pollution is even more acute in informal settlements which lack formal drainage systems of any kind. This study describes a UK field test of Nature-based Solutions designed to retain and treat NEPs and constructed with low cost and recycled materials at its forefront. The test site consists of 6 individual test beds, 3 of which have been left to self-seed as controls and another 3 which were planted with Salix viminalis propagated from an existing tree on site. The systems were watered multiple time a week with water spiked with 8 NEPs (Amoxicillin, Caffeine, Ibuprofen, Nevirapine, Paracetamol, Sulfamethoxazole, Triclosan, Trimethoprim) at 1000 ng/L to simulate NEP addition by informal settlement dwellers, starting February 2023. Water samples were collected from each test bed monthly and NEP concentrations were evaluated by online-SPE LC-MS, while microplastic emissions were assessed via µFTIR microscope. In the system’s first year since initial construction in spring 2022, a total of 40+ species of plants were identified in the self-seeded systems, along with multiple animal species. All test bed systems showed a great capacity to deal with extreme summer heat without requiring large inputs of water and were capable of absorbing large volumes of water from winter rain before flooding. Initial results have demonstrated the presence of microplastics being emitted from the system predominantly in the form of PET, PTFE, and cellophane. Analysis of chemicals NEPs is ongoing.