We use pulsed corona and dielectric barrier discharges, either alone or in combination with other advanced oxidation processes, to remove organic pollutants in water. Lately, our work is focused on pharmaceutical compounds and pesticides, while earlier experiments have dealt with decolorization of dyes. We also investigate the generation of oxidizing species in plasma and correlate their formation with the pollutants’ degradation. We have found that recycling of the effluent gas from the plasma substantially improves the contaminants removal due to enhanced mass transfer of the plasma species to the liquid, as well as due to the peroxone process. The duration of the discharge pulses is another key parameter that can be tuned to increase process efficiency. We are performing tests on plant seeds to assess the toxicity of plasma-treated water and the plant up-take of the target compound and its degradation products.