Impacts of COVID-19 and climate change on wastewater-derived substances in urban drinking water: Evidence from gadolinium-based contrast agents in tap water from Berlin, Germany
Lea M Krohn, Franziska Klimpel, Pauline Béziat, Michael Bau
Abstract
• Climate change often requires artificial groundwater recharge with surface water. • Wastewater-derived substances (WWDS) in potable water are an increasing challenge. • Gd from contrast agents increased 30-fold in Berlin tapwater between 2009 and 2021. • Tapwater Gd responded quickly to reduced number of MRI scans during COVID pandemic. • Anthropogenic Gd is a robust and cost-efficient tracer for monitoring of WWDS. Anthropogenic gadolinium from MRI contrast agents has been detected in surface waters worldwide. It is released with the treated effluents of wastewater treatment plants, similar to other wastewater-derived substances (WWDS) such as pharmaceuticals and personal care products. We determined concentrations of the rare earth elements in tap water from Berlin, Germany, using an automated preconcentration procedure that is both time- and cost-efficient. Anthropogenic gadolinium concentrations in Berlin's tap water increased on average 30-fold between 2009 and 2021. However, the tap water composition responded quickly to the reduced number of MRI scans during the COVID-19 pandemic, and some districts show a decrease from 2016 to 2021. Since climate change causes groundwater levels to decline in many regions, this needs to be mitigated by artificial groundwater recharge with surface water. This will inevitably lead to an increase in WWDS in potable water, which can be cost-efficiently monitored using anthropogenic gadolinium as tracer.