The New Zealand Drugs in Wastewater Programme – a continuously evolving beast

The DIWW programme in NZ started in 2016, with just a few hardcore supporters and a whole bunch of hecklers. However after just a few months the benefit of having this quantitative data soon became apparent, and people were starting to be converted to this crazy technique. Since then, there have been twists and turns, successes and challenges, but ultimately the programme has been expanding considerably. This presentation will proudly present the successes, but also analyse some of the challenges of running this programme, and what we have done (or are doing) to ensure the sustainability of what everyone working in this space considers an important body of work for reducing drug harm in our communities.

Andrew Chappell is an analytical chemist who started working at the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) in 2002. He has spent most of his career working in food safety and water quality looking at trace organic compounds, usually process contaminants, or naturally occurring toxins and carcinogens. Measuring drug metabolites was a nice new challenge, and after getting the support of multiple colleagues in different groups throughout ESR, he set up a trial WBE programme working with NZ Police. This has now evolved into a multimillion dollar programme led by Andrew, meaning he doesn’t spend as much time in the lab as he would like. However the constant challenge of dealing with dozens of stakeholders and their shifting ideas and expectations means he doesn’t get bored!