The treatment of hospital wastewater: an appraisal | Zendy

Bram Pauwels | Zendy; Willy Verstraete | Zendy

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The treatment of hospital wastewater: an appraisal

Author(s) -

Bram Pauwels,

Willy Verstraete

Publication year - 2006

Publication title -

journal of water and health

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 0.482

H-Index - 59

eISSN - 1996-7829

pISSN - 1477-8920

DOI - 10.2166/wh.2006.0024

Subject(s) - sanitary sewer , wastewater , sewage treatment , antibiotics , surface water , waste management , public health , aquatic environment , environmental science , medicine , environmental engineering , biology , ecology , microbiology and biotechnology , engineering , nursing

Hospitals discharge considerable amounts of chemicals and microbial agents in their wastewaters. Problem chemicals present in hospital wastewater belong to different groups, such as antibiotics, X-ray contrast agents, disinfectants and pharmaceuticals. Many of these chemical compounds resist normal wastewater treatment. They end up in surface waters where they can influence the aquatic ecosystem and interfere with the food chain. Humans are particularly exposed by the drinking water, produced from surface water. Microbial agents of special concern are multiresistant microbial strains. The latter are suspected to contribute to the spread of antibiotic resistance. In this paper, we will discuss the different approaches towards hospital wastewater treatment. The principle of uncoupling hospitals from public sewers warrants indepth evaluation by technologists and ecotoxicologists as well as public health specialists.

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