Nature-based solutions for pharmaceutical wastewater treatment

Background and rationale

Water security and ecological resilience are critical to long-term global sustainability. However, pharmaceutical compounds and other emerging chemical and biological micropollutants are increasingly detected in wastewater effluents and receiving water bodies, raising concerns about their impacts on human and environmental health.

Treatment wetlands represent a proven NbS that is environmentally sustainable, cost-effective, and multifunctional. Beyond pollutant removal, they provide ecosystem services such as habitat creation, biodiversity support, and carbon storage. Despite these advantages, conventional wetland systems require innovation to effectively address the complexity, persistence, and transformation products associated with pharmaceutical contaminants.

Research objectives and approach

Funded by Sanofi S.A. through the Planet Care Challenge programme, this project aims to significantly enhance the performance of treatment wetlands for pharmaceutical wastewater. The research integrates cutting-edge technologies including advanced functional materials, nanobubble systems, and engineering biology into established wetland designs.

The project will:

• Improve the removal and transformation of pharmaceutical compounds and their by-products
• Optimise operational conditions for enhanced treatment efficiency
• Quantify co-benefits, including biodiversity gains, greenhouse gas mitigation, and ecosystem health outcomes

A full-scale demonstration system will be deployed at a Sanofi site, providing real-world validation and a scalable blueprint for adoption across the pharmaceutical industry and wider water sector.

Progress update

Pilot-scale treatment wetland systems have been successfully designed, constructed, and commissioned at Cranfield University’s dedicated sewage works facility. These systems provide a controlled yet realistic platform to evaluate the performance of the proposed technological enhancements.

Experimental trials are currently underway to assess the removal and transformation of selected pharmaceutical compounds under varying operational conditions. This work is generating critical data to optimise wetland design parameters, hydraulic regimes, and integration of advanced materials and nanobubble technologies.

The funded PhD researcher, Dipan Tikhatri, is leading the experimental programme, focusing on treatment efficiency, system stability, and early indicators of co-benefits such as biomass development and ecological function. Findings from the pilot-scale studies will directly inform the design of a shipping container-scale treatment wetland unit, scheduled for construction in 2026. This next phase will enable rapid translation of the technology towards full-scale deployment at operational Sanofi sites.