my country has a low per capita water resource availability and uneven spatial distribution. With the acceleration of urbanization and industrialization in China, the demand gap for water resources is widening. Against this backdrop, the wastewater treatment industry has emerged as a new industry, currently holding an equally important position as the tap water production, supply, drainage, and reclaimed water reuse industries.
Hazards of medical wastewater
The most common types of wastewater are industrial wastewater and domestic sewage, but in this chapter, we'll discuss medical wastewater, also known as hospital wastewater. The main pollutants in hospital wastewater include pathogens, organic matter, floating and suspended solids, and other contaminants. Untreated raw wastewater can contain a total bacterial count of over 10^8 CFU/mL.
Medical wastewater has repeatedly drawn public attention, as its discharge causes significant harm to water resources and has become a major source of public health risks. In some regions, only a few hospitals truly meet national emission standards. Currently, inadequate legal regulations and weak environmental awareness have led to the direct discharge of medical wastewater and the prevalence of "high pollution, low treatment" in major hospitals.
During their operation, hospitals inevitably generate wastewater with direct or indirect infectiousness, toxicity, and other hazards. The sources of this wastewater determine its complex composition, involving various biological, chemical, and radioactive contaminants. Medical wastewater contains not only large amounts of pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, and parasite eggs, but also chemical agents and radioactive isotopes, exhibiting several characteristics including spatial pollution, acute infection, and latent infection. If medical wastewater containing pathogenic microorganisms is discharged directly into urban sewers without disinfection, inactivation, or other harmless treatment, it often causes water and soil pollution, and in severe cases, can trigger various diseases or lead to outbreaks of waterborne infectious diseases.
Instruments are used in the treatment of medical wastewater.
The principles of hospital wastewater treatment are: separate treatment based on waste quality, localized treatment, and elimination of pollution at the source. The main treatment methods are sedimentation and disinfection. Liquid chlorine is commonly used as a disinfectant in my country. To improve disinfection efficiency and avoid secondary pollution, ozonation is increasingly being used. After disinfection, all wastewater meets emission standards. Sludge generated during treatment is often treated using lime disinfection and high-temperature composting.
During the wastewater treatment process, an online water quality monitoring instrument is used to monitor the total amount of substances in the water to determine whether the levels exceed the standards, and then carry out relevant wastewater treatment.
