It is widely acknowledged that large volumes of wastewater are inevitably generated during the operation of complex healthcare facilities such as hospitals. However, this inevitability does not justify complacency or neglect, as unmanaged hospital wastewater poses severe threats to ecological integrity and human health. To safeguard water quality, targeted treatment processes for medical wastewater are imperative. This paper aims to examine key issues related to the treatment of hospital-generated wastewater.
Proper wastewater treatment is critical, as it ensures that pollutant concentrations are reduced to compliance standards or neutralized through chemical reactions. Inadequate treatment, by contrast, can lead to unnecessary environmental and public health harm. Thus, the immediate priority lies in implementing evidence-based treatment technologies for medical wastewater to prevent the escalation of pollution-related risks.
Medical wastewater derives from diverse sources within hospitals, including consultation rooms, laboratories, laundry facilities, and canteens, and its composition is highly complex. It typically contains pathogenic bacteria, viruses, and a variety of chemical agents—all of which are potential sources of severe contamination. Targeted treatment processes are therefore essential, alongside efforts to enhance the efficiency of sewage treatment systems, to ensure the safety of discharged water. Under current operational conditions, achieving full compliance with all wastewater quality indicators remains challenging; further, instances of untreated medical wastewater discharge have been documented, which can contaminate other water bodies and facilitate the transmission of pathogens. Strengthening wastewater treatment protocols is thus of paramount importance.
Notably, China’s National Health Commission has long issued regulatory documents with explicit provisions for medical wastewater management. Presently, most hospitals employ liquid chlorine or bleaching powder for disinfection and sterilization. However, these methods rely heavily on manual operation, meaning treatment efficacy is closely linked to the professional competence of on-site staff.
Furthermore, following disinfection and sterilization, continuous Monitoring of Wastewater Quality is indispensable. This involves testing for hazardous substances to confirm compliance with discharge standards, with coliform monitoring being particularly critical. Real-time monitoring of coliform concentrations can be achieved using instruments such as the WECT-900 Online Coliform Analyzer, enabling dynamic tracking of microbial contamination levels.
