Characteristics and quality analysis of wastewater resulting from medical uses ‎in Assiut University Hospitals: A case study on hemodialysis wastewater and ‎reverse osmosis reject water

Abstract

Hemodialysis water is an essential element necessary for the production of dialysates as well as ‎disinfection generators. Each patient's hemodialysis session requires around 120 liters of filtered ‎water. Assiut University Hospitals' hemodialysis facilities treat more than 300 patients each day and ‎perform over 85,000 hemodialysis sessions per year. This study includes an evaluation of the ‎bacteriological and physicochemical quality of blood dialysis waste and water rejected from the ‎treatment units. Samples were collected and tested in accordance with standard methods of ‎wastewater analysis. The physicochemical investigation focused on the extent of potential hydrogen ‎‎(pH), electrical conductivity (EC), chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand ‎‎(BOD), chloride, and total dissolved solids (TDS), as well as Magnesium (Mg), Potassium (K), ‎Calcium (Ca2), Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), Sodium (Na), Chloride (Cl), Bicarbonate (HCO3), Oil ‎& Grease, total phenol. Also, enumeration of fecal coliforms was performed by membrane filtration ‎and searches for Streptococci sp. and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were conducted through ‎microbiological investigation. According to the findings, untreated effluents cannot be used directly ‎for irrigation. Prior treatment is required to improve the quality of the wastewater. The results for ‎the heavy metals Lead (Pb), Mercury (Hg), Iron (Fe), Cobalt (Co), Silver (Ag), Nickel (Ni), ‎Cadmium (C), and Manganese (M) revealed compliance with acceptable norms. It would be ‎beneficial to investigate the possibility of recycling effluent from Assiut University Hospital's ‎hemodialysis center. Which leads to saving water resources and protecting the environment? It is ‎critical to investigate the possibility of reusing or recycling it. This work brings attention to this ‎neglected subject, particularly in hemodialysis therapy, by evaluating the feasibility of hemodialysis ‎wastewater reuse.‎