https://phys.org/news/2018-06-economical-technique-pharmaceuticals-chemical-contaminants.html

According to Reynaldo Barreto, an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry and Physics at Purdue University Northwest, organic compounds and pharmaceuticals are commonly being found in public water supplies.

"The effect of these trace contaminants in the water supply is unknown," said Barreto, who led a team of undergraduate students to develop the new technology. "Although little is known about the many organic and pharmaceutical compounds, their presence in the water supply, even in trace amounts, poses a real threat to public health."