Investigation of Sewage Treatment Conditionsin Guilan Province Hospitals

Hospital wastewater contains a variety of pollutants, a large amount of pathogenic microorganisms, viruses, radioactive materials, etc., which unless treated and disposed properly, can cause serious damage to human beings and the environment. The purposes of this study are to investigate the wastewater treatment and disposal conditions and the effluent quality in Guilan hospitals.In this study, besides the investigation of wastewater management conditions in Guilan hospitals with wastewater treatment plants, the sewage treatment performance was assessed in one of the hospitals. Qualitative indicators including total coliform, fecal coliform, pH, DO, BOD5, COD, TSS, total phosphate, ammonia, nitrate and silver in the effluent were assessed and the lab results were compared to the standards of Iran Department of Environment.According to statistical results, 10 out of the 34 studied Guilan hospitals have active wastewater treatment systems. Furthermore, the qualitative assessment showed that pH, COD, BOD5, DO, phosphate, nitrate, silver, total coliform and fecal coliform levels in the hospital conform to the standards of Iran Department of Environment. However, reduction of ammonia and TSS levels should be considered. A number of hospitals in Guilan do not have wastewater treatment plant and their wastewater is discharged into municipal wastewater collection systems or drains. On the other hand, a number of hospitals with wastewater treatment plants do not work properly. Therefore, it is important to consider executive decisions regarding new wastewater treatment technologies and upgrading treatment process in existing wastewater treatment plants.