Sustainable solutions for emerging organic pollutants in biosolids: Two case studies about contamination of drinking water supplies resulting from land application of contaminated biosolids and organic amendments

'Emerging organic' pollution in biosolids is a complex issue facing the Australian water industry. The nature and types of pollutants found in biosolids are constantly changing as manufacturing and industry practices are modified, and there are no policy or regulation mechanisms for protecting the quality of biosolids from 'unknown' or 'emerging' pollutants. There are thousands of organic pollutants documented to be present in biosolids and there are potentially thousands more 'unknowns' . In this paper two case studies are presented that discuss the contamination of drinking water supplies that resulted from the land application of contaminated biosolids and organic amendments. Rather than calling attention to this particular pollutant, they highlight the deficiency in the current biosolids regulation in Australia and throughout the world. Three solutions are proposed to protect the quality of biosolids and ensure the long-term sustainability of the land application route for this material. They are: (1) regular national biosolids surveys for emerging pollutants; (2) the development of an Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Regulation program; and (3) the development and application of biological-based assays for generalised toxicity that can be related to relevant human/ecological endpoints. 'Emerging organic pollutants' will require constant vigilance by the water industry to ensure that the land application of biosolids does not place human health or the environment at risk from new organic pollutants in the future. The purpose of this paper is to facilitate a discussion within the water industry so that it will begin to debate the complicated issue of emerging organic pollutants in biosolids