The Center for Environmental Research and Sustainable Technologies at the University of Bremen (Zentrum für Umweltforschung und nachhaltige Technologien der Universität Bremen, UFT) is currently developing a plant filtering process with which – for the first time – pharmaceutical residues can be largely eliminated from water with biochar and vegetable carbon. Results show that the investigated active pharmaceutical ingredients, and their degradation products, can be effectively retained with the technologies described here. As of July 2013, in a second phase of the project, a test run with a microfiltration system is being carried out on a technical scale (15 square meter surface) at the municipal waste water treatment plant in Sulingen.
