On the 30th and 31st of May the project kick-off meeting of MORPHEUS was held in Kristianstad, Sweden.
The background to MORPHEUS (Model Areas for Removal of Pharmaceutical Substances in the South Baltic) is the constant release of pharmaceuticals and other micropollutants via wastewater treatment plants to the South Baltic Sea. The project will combine information on upstream pharmaceuticals consumption patterns with estimates of the downstream discharge of pharmaceuticals from a few selected wastewater treatment plants located in the coastal regions Skåne (Sweden), Mecklenburg (Germany), Klaipeda (Lithuania) and Pomerania (Poland). Additionally an inventory of the status of existing treatment technologies will be made available. This information will aid wastewater treatment plants and authorities in a future implementation of the most suitable advanced treatment technology, thereby improving the water quality of the South Baltic Sea.
At the kick-off meeting in Kristianstad the participants got an overview of the planned activities in MORPHEUS as well as an introduction to the chemical analysis of pharmaceuticals, which will be done in the laboratory at Kristianstad University, named MoLab. The program included a guided tour to Kristianstads wastewater treatment plant and an advanced treatment pilot plant. This pilot plant consist of a granular activated carbon filter, and removes 99% of the pharmaceuticals from the treated water that enters the Hammarsjön and the Baltic Sea.
MORPHEUS runs from 1-2017 to 12-2019 and is co-financed by the Interreg South Baltic Programme 2014-2020 | European Regional Development Fund. The project is as part of the BSR pharmaceuticals platform a flagship project of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea region.
Lead Partner: Kristianstad University (SE)
Project Partners: EUCC – The Coastal Union Germany (DE), University of Rostock (DE), Gdansk Water Foundation (PL), Gdansk University of Technology (PL), Environmental Protection Agency (LT), Klaipeda University (LT).
Contact: Erland Björklund, Kristianstad University, erland.bjorklund@hkr.se
