Water pollution: The hidden crisis

This is part of a 3-article series. You're reading part 2. Here is part 1.

More than 80% of the world’s wastewater is discharged into the environment without adequate treatment, carrying chemicals, pathogens, and plastics that threaten ecosystems and human health. Water pollution is often invisible, yet it touches nearly every aspect of modern life, from the products we use to the systems that supply and treat water. Addressing it requires not only better infrastructure but also a deeper understanding of how consumption, governance, and finance intersect.

The forever chemicals

In recent years, scientists have begun to recognise that one of the most pressing threats to global water quality comes not from factories or oil spills but from the everyday products people use at home. Shampoos, painkillers, sunscreens, and cosmetics all contribute to a growing chemical cocktail that conventional wastewater systems cannot fully remove. Even where treatment facilities exist, emerging micropollutants such as pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are increasingly recognised for their impact. For example, a 2023 review found that pharmaceuticals for human use represent 59% of input quantities to wastewater treatment plants in an EU assessment, and together with personal‐care compounds account for 66% of the total toxic load in that assessment. 

Claudia Neuschulz, ESG Lead for Corporate Services at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and a DPhil candidate at the University of Oxford, has spent years exploring how finance can help bridge the gap between sustainable water management and industrial responsibility. She argues that there is a contradiction between society’s wish for clean drinking water and its daily consumption patterns. “Pharmaceuticals and PPCPs, from painkillers to cosmetics, are central to this challenge,” she explains. “The industry creates the formulas, but we as consumers are also responsible. On average, an adult uses about twelve personal care products each day, and men’s use has almost doubled over the past two decades.” 

These compounds often slip through conventional treatment systems unchanged, eventually flowing into rivers, lakes, and oceans where they accumulate over time. In many ways, the water we use every day becomes a mirror of our consumption habits. “The industry creates the formulas, but we as consumers are also responsible,” Neuschulz explains. “On average, an adult uses about twelve personal care products each day, and men’s use has almost doubled over the past two decades.” 

Scientists warn that the problem does not end once products are rinsed away. Thousands of chemicals in medicines and cosmetics change composition after use, forming new residues that are even harder to remove. The painkiller diclofenac, for example, has been detected in rivers across Europe and is known to harm aquatic life, yet product labels still instruct consumers to wash off excess cream with water. “Something as simple as changing those instructions could have a large impact,” she notes. 

Neuschulz describes this behavioural pattern as the “wash and flush” culture, a cycle of convenience that perpetuates contamination. “We all want clean water, yet we keep using and rinsing products that contaminate it,” she says. The contradiction highlights a deeper problem: modern habits are shaped by comfort and routine rather than consequence. Technology can reduce the damage, but it cannot replace awareness. Achieving true water sustainability requires not only innovation but also a rethinking of the motives and standards that drive these practices and their environmental outcomes at scale. 

ENVITECC is an advanced technology transfer programme in the Mediterranean Sea Region for Water Systems and Clean Coasts, co-financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The programme supports wastewater treatment and reuse projects in the Mediterranean region. It combines water and pollution audits with incentive grants that encourage industries to adopt cleaner technologies. “When we demonstrate success, others follow,” Neuschulz says. “One factory installing wastewater treatment quickly becomes ten.” 

ENVITECC also addresses PFAS, a family of persistent organic pollutants often called “forever chemicals.” Used in clothing, cosmetics, and firefighting foams, PFAS are designed to resist degradation and are now found in groundwater and even human blood samples worldwide. According to the OECD Global PFAS Database, more than 4,730 PFAS compounds have been identified in 2018 in global commerce, many of which remain in the environment for decades. “Today, the concentrations are too high and the consequences too widespread.” For her, the path forward is not limited to technology or infrastructure but depends on responsibility and the willingness to change how societies produce, consume, and regulate the chemicals that return to the water. 

Decentralised solutions for a central problem 

The 2024 UN Water reports that among 107 countries reporting data, only 60% of total wastewater flows were “safely treated” in the subset of 42 countries (representing 12% of the global population). 

Tania Imran, Water Specialist at FutureWater, focuses on the intersection of water resources, climate resilience, and sustainable sanitation. “South Asia has one of the lowest wastewater treatment rates in the world, around 16%,” Imran says. Even in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, treatment plants operate far below capacity, while smaller cities such as Sargodha and DG Khan have almost no functioning facilities. The issue, she explains, is not only technical but also institutional. 

Large, centralised systems are costly to build and even harder to maintain, often straining municipal budgets long before they become fully operational. Imran believes the solution lies in modular and decentralised systems that can expand gradually as demand grows. “If you start with designing a centralised treatment plant for two million people, it may already become too complicated or challenging. The key is to start small. Design, build and operate a treatment facility for 500 people and then scale up based on the results.”  

During work with WaterAid Pakistan, Imran helped develop a lab-scale biological wastewater treatment system that used recycled plastic, glass, and clay as filtration materials. Biological processes such as constructed wetlands were also tested, using vegetation and soil to naturally treat wastewater. Using natural elements is key to developing systems that are both sustainable and adaptable. With rapid progress taking place under the umbrella of Nature-based Solutions (NbS), countries such as Italy have begun leveraging constructed wetlands to treat wastewater and improve overall water quality. These systems remain low-cost and low-maintenance, making them particularly suitable for emerging economies. Imran also highlights pilot projects in India that apply solar power for low-energy disinfection. “These are green, affordable solutions that communities can maintain themselves,” Imran says. 

At FutureWater, work focuses on integrating water accounting into the Water–Energy–Food–Ecosystem (WEFE) Nexus, a framework that helps policymakers understand how sectors interact. Analytical tools such as REWEFe and WatNEX are used to identify synergies and trade-offs between water, energy, food, and environmental objectives, allowing users to model alternative policy scenarios. “Water accounting helps us understand how much water we have, where it is, how it is being used, who needs it, and who actually gets it,” Imran explains. “While the process mainly focuses on water quantities, there is a pressing need to include water quality as well, because the usefulness of water ultimately depends on its quality.” 

Imran notes that technology must go hand in hand with governance and finance. In many countries, overlapping mandates lead to duplication and inefficiency. “Sometimes two departments are collecting the same data, completely unaware of what the other is doing,” she observes. She stresses the need for blended finance and public–private partnerships (PPPs) to make sanitation projects viable. “Grants are essential for piloting new systems, but concessional loans and private participation are what enable upscaling.” Institutions such as the Asian Development Bank and the Green Climate Fund play an important role by combining grants, loans, and technical assistance to attract investment. 

According to recent estimates by the World Bank and OECD, the world needs to mobilize up to USD 7 trillion by 2030 to close the global water infrastructure gap and meet water-related Sustainable Development Goals. Yet financing remains heavily skewed toward the public sector, which provides nearly 91 percent of annual spending, while private investment accounts for less than 2 percent. This imbalance reinforces Imran’s argument that achieving sustainable water management will require stronger partnerships between governments, development banks, and private investors to scale up innovation and long-term solutions. 

Engineering resilience and financing urban water systems 

Hubert Jenny, former Senior Infrastructure and Climate Advisor, worked for almost 15 years at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF), supporting cities across Asia in building climate-resilient water systems. From flood control in Thailand to sanitation reforms in Vietnam, his experience shows how engineering and finance must come together to strengthen urban resilience. 

“At the city level, it is all about urban water management,” Jenny says. “The Sponge City concept is one of the best examples because it combines engineering with nature.” Developed in China, the model slows runoff through green infrastructure such as permeable pavements, green roofs, wetlands, and parks that absorb rather than divert stormwater. 

Just like Imran, Jenny notes that Nature-based infrastructure is also gaining importance. Restored wetlands, mangroves, and green corridors help filter water and buffer floods. “Mangroves and wetlands are not just environmental projects. They are infrastructure in their own right,” Jenny says. UNEP reports that restored mangroves protect 18 million people from flooding and deliver USD 82 billion in avoided damages annually. Such projects do more than buffer disasters, they generate strong economic returns, improve ecosystem health, and beautify cityscapes. 

A shared future 

From the invisible contaminants that flow from our homes to the vast infrastructure that shapes our cities, water pollution mirrors the complexity of modern development. For Claudia Neuschulz, it begins with the products we use. For Tania Imran, it is about building systems that communities can manage. For Hubert Jenny, it is about designing cities that work with nature. Together, their insights point toward one truth: clean water depends not only on innovation but on collective responsibility across households, institutions, and nations. 

illuminem Voices is a democratic space presenting the thoughts and opinions of leading Sustainability & Energy writers, their opinions do not necessarily represent those of illuminem.

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