Pharmaceuticals in Drinking Water

Studies show that trace amounts of pharmaceuticals have appeared in various community water supplies.  The current best practice for managing waste drugs is through high temperature incineration at a licensed facility.  Until a permanent solution is in place to collect unwanted medications, several temporary collections have been set up across the state.  

Use the following resources to help facilitate proper handling of waste medications.   

Resources

DNR information on waste pharmaceuticals  
Comprehensive collection of information on household drug disposal and non-household pharmaceutical disposal.

Disposal of Unwanted Medicines:  A resource for action in your community.  
A toolkit for waste medication collection event organizers developed by the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant.

Upcoming pharmaceutical collections in Wisconsin  
A link to UW Extensions list of pharmaceutical collections throughout the state.

Applying for a pharmaceutical clean sweep collection grant  
Wisconsin Department of Agriculture Trade and Consumer Protection is offering clean sweep grants for communities planning drug collections.

Pharmaceutical Waste at Non-Hospital Healthcare Facilities
A DHFS and DNR document that defines the different types of health care facilities and how pharmaceutical waste should be handled.

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Last Revised:  October 24, 2008