Pioneering clean water solutions: How cutting-edge resin-based 3D printing is driving sustainable remediation

The increasing presence of pollutants in water bodies, coupled with growing industrial water demand, has accelerated water scarcity, which is projected to worsen by 2050. Additive manufacturing (AM) has recently emerged as a promising and innovative solution for water and wastewater treatment. This review explores various AM techniques that utilize liquid resin specifically for fabricating products aimed at treating water and wastewater. Various research studies were retrieved from Scopus and Google Scholar databases, with a time range from 2014 to 2025. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) was adopted for selecting the studies; out of 552 studies, 223 were fully examined and used in this study, and the selected studies were determined based on its relevancy to wastewater treatments, resin-based AM, and how it is being utilized to remediate water pollutants. It also highlights recent advancements in 3D-printable resin-based functional materials for removing pollutants, including dyes, heavy metals, oil, and pharmaceuticals. Additionally, the integration of these 3D-printed structures with other chemical compounds to enhance their functionalities is discussed. While 3D-printed resin-based structures demonstrate significant versatility and effectiveness, the adoption of AM in wastewater treatment has lagged compared to other sectors due to various technical and environmental challenges. Key concerns include the potential leaching of toxic resin components into the environment and the scalability of AM-based treatment systems. Despite these issues, the ability to customise and functionalize resin materials offers promising avenues for creating multifunctional structures tailored for pollutant remediation. This review highlights not only the strengths of resin-based AM, particularly in enabling durable and adaptable designs, but also the pressing challenges that must be addressed. A balanced understanding of these factors is essential for optimizing resin-based AM techniques and accelerating their integration into sustainable water and wastewater treatment solutions.