Yale University’s environment 360 reports on the important work constructed wetlands do filtering drugs and chemicals from drinking water.  Writer Carina Storrs points out despite Southern California’s  96-mile long Santa Ana River river being treated at several dozen wastewater treatment plants, unwanted residue from pharmaceuticals and herbicides still remained, posing threats to endocrine activity, metabolism, and development in humans.

A year-old pilot project at the Prado Wetlands, operated by the Orange County Water District, now channels river water through a series of ponds allowing sunlight and bacteria to degrade the harmful pharmaceuticals and other man-made chemicals before the river reaches the city of Anaheim. This filtering is becoming critical as scientists fear that the more humans are exposed to antibiotics, the greater the threat antibiotic-resistant bacteria becomes.

>Read Designing Wetlands to Remove Drugs and Chemical Pollutants