Page 152 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

Biological Approach for Removal of Pharmaceutical Pollutants 133

and discharged into the earth with its lingering content of pathogens and pharmaceu-
ticals, the local fauna are routinely at risk.

7.5.3.1 Managing Hospital Water and Wastewater
The best way to manage hospital wastewater, as well as to satisfy local water emis-
sions regulations, includes

• Collection of specific ingredients
• Substitutions
• Advanced treatment methods

The efficiency of a broad range of advanced technologies to treat hospital waste-
water was analyzed, both in the laboratory and at pilot scale. The effectiveness of
the following methods to remove persistent and toxic pollutants such as antibiotics,
cytostatics, and hormones was studied.

• MBR as a pre-treatment
• Oxidation through ozonation
3
• Advanced oxidation process (O + H O )
2
2
• Powdered activated carbon (PAC) and granulated activated carbon (GAC)
These treatment technologies can be used in different combinations to effectively
treat hospital wastewater. After treatment, the concentration of pharmaceuticals was
below the level at which organisms living in water would be adversely affected. This
means that the wastewater quality was high enough to be

• Discharged directly into local water areas
• Reused as technical, cooling, or recreational water

Hospital water and wastewater systems can be enhanced by the following accom-
panying steps:

• Integrating water quality measures into the distribution network design to
ensure consistently high water quality
• Integrating optimal wastewater treatment into hospital construction plans
• Getting water authority permission to discharge treated wastewater into the
local water area
• Planning and identifying possibilities for reusing treated wastewater

7.6 FUTURE RESEARCH NEEDS

The pharmaceutical waste stream is of a varied nature, and hence, the wastewater
must be treated for environmentally friendly disposal. Reduction of the waste stream
at the source, alongside reuse of the water or recovery of some part of the waste, is
among the most attractive choices.