Emergency Management of Medical Wastewater in Hospitals Specializing in Infectious Diseases: A Case Study of Huoshenshan Hospital, Wuhan, China

Medical wastewater originating from hospitals specializing in infectious diseases pose a major risk to human and environmental health during pandemics. However, there have been few systematic studies on the management of this type of wastewater management. The function of the Huoshenshan Hospital as a designated emergency field hospital for the treatment of COVID-19 has provided lessons for the management measures of medical wastewater, mainly including: (1) Modern information technology, management schemes, and related standard systems provided the legislative foundation for emergency management of medical wastewater. (2) The three-tier prevention and control medical wastewater management system ensured the discharged wastewater met water quality standards, especially for the leak-proof sealed collection system of the first tier, and the biological and chemical treatment technology of the second tier. (3) The establishment of an effective three-tier medical wastewater quality monitoring accountability system. This system was particularly relevant for ensuring continuous data monitoring and dynamic analysis of characteristic indicators. (4) Information disclosure by government and public supervision promoted successful implementation of medical wastewater management and control measures. Public questionnaires (n = 212) further confirmed the effectiveness of information disclosure. The results of this study can act as methodological reference for the emergency management of wastewater in designated infectious disease hospitals under similar situations.

A Study on The Healthy Rental-Housing for College Students According to World Health Organization: Evidence from Surabaya City in Indonesia

Introduction:Many college students live far from their parents to study to get a better higher education, so they occupy a rental-housing. However,many rental-housings do not meet the health standards according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Therefore, this study aiming at evaluating the rental-housing quality used by college students in Surabaya, Jawa Timur, Indonesia.Methods:This type of research is an observational study conducted with a descriptive observational design. The sample in this study was 52 college students who originated from outside Surabaya and currently living in the rental-housing in Mulyorejo, Surabaya, Indonesia.Results:The results present observational data from 52 student respondents who live in boarding houses including the overview of boarding houses condition, ventilation and air circulation condition, trash management, clean water and wastewater management, and toilet condition.Conclusion: Under the circumstance, this study was conducted to assess healthy rental-housing quality for college students, using the WHO's evaluation indicators. While some college students could afford to stay in proper and healthy rental-housing, some of them still suffer from lousy ventilation, the absence of clean water, and terrible trash management.

Case study on the dairy processing industries and their wastewater generation in Latvia

The objective of the research presented in this Research Communication was to access the environmental impact of the Latvian dairy industries. Site visits and interviews at Latvian dairy processing companies were done in order to collect site-specific data. This includes the turnover of the dairy industries, production, quality of water in various industrial processes, the flow and capacity of the sewage including their characteristic, existing practices and measures for wastewater management. The results showed that dairy industries in Latvia generated in total approximately 2263 × 103 m3 wastewater in the year 2019. The Latvian dairy effluents were characterized with high chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD) and total solids (TS). Few dairy plants had pre-treatment facilities for removal of contaminants, and many lacked onsite treatment technologies. Most facilities discharged dairy wastewater to municipal wastewater treatment plants. The current study gives insight into the Latvian dairy industries, their effluent management and pollution at Gulf of Riga due to wastewater discharge.

Application of Ostrom’s Institutional Analysis and Development Framework in River Water Conservation in Southern Ecuador. Case Study—The Zamora River

Water is essential for life and human activities. In addition to the constant increase in water demand, there are problems caused by inefficient governance, such as the discharge of untreated wastewater into rivers and seas, which is aggravated by the limited participation of civil society in decision-making. To face current and future challenges, solid public policies must be implemented, focused on measurable objectives, following planned and predetermined schedules on an appropriate scale, based on a clear assignment of functions to the competent authorities, and subject to periodic monitoring and evaluation. The Institutional Analysis and Development framework proposed by Ostrom made it possible to identify gaps in the existing governance, and to establish actions that could strengthen the institutional framework with the active participation of social actors, in order to achieve an effective conservation of water resources in southern Ecuador. The present study determined that regulations are not coherent with the conflict, the design of policies, and the effects of decision-making. The formal rules for wastewater management are not applied, and there is an incipient citizen participation, as well as disarticulation in institutions responsible for wastewater management. Recommendations were made to strengthen the institutional framework and governance of wastewater.

Lacustrine, wastewater, interstitial and fluvial water quality in the Southern Lake Baikal region

The coastal area of the southern Lake Baikal with the population over 35,000 people remains an attractive spot for both tourists and local residents. Despite high anthropogenic impact, a detailed assessment of water quality in this area has not been performed so far. Here, we performed a comprehensive evaluation of the quality of the surface, bottom and interstitial water in rivers, lacustrine water and wastewater in the southern Lake Baikal region. We analyzed 37 samples for the presence of fecal enterococci, Escherichia coli and assessed their hydrochemical parameters: concentrations of nutrients (nitrate-N, nitrite-N, ammonium-N and phosphate-P), dissolved oxygen and amount of ions (HCO3− + SO42− + Cl− + Ca2+ + Mg2+ + Na+ + K+). In addition, the temperature, pH and electrical conductivity were also measured. We found that multiple areas around South Baikal suffer from microbiological and hydrochemical pollution. We conclude that ecological situation in this area requires immediate attention from local authorities, more efficient wastewater management systems should be constructed in the settlements. We also conclude that interstitial waters from the lake's splash zone represent an effective and sensitive indicator of sanitary-microbiological and hydrochemical pollution and their analysis can be included in the standard protocol of water quality assessment for all types of water bodies.

Progress on legal and practical aspects on water reuse with emphasis on drinking water – an overview

The present study highlights the evolution, the progress and the prospects of future practices of water reuse in the world. The objective was to produce a comprehensive timeline on the global evolution and progress of water reuse. This was achieved through the analysis of the state of the art on the subject. The present study is a qualitative research, where three aspects have been considered to highlight the global evolution of water reuse: i) Regulations, Standards, Criteria or Guidelines (RSCG); ii) Indirect Potable Reuse Projects (IPR); and iii) Direct Potable Reuse Projects (DPR). The study focused on both legal and practical aspects of water reuse and considered 3 timelines in the context of RSCG, IPR and DPR: 29 RSCG instruments, institutionalized from 1918 to 2020, where only 4 instruments were solely dedicated to drinking water reuse; 10 IPR projects; 5 DPR projects. To achieve good, effective results, the regulatory framework must support the objectives of a structured water reuse policy in addition to guaranteeing legitimacy and maintaining public confidence. Integrated water and wastewater management, based on technological and scientific advances, has become a relevant aspect for implementation of more adequate measures by decision makers to address future global water challenges.

Monitoring of wastewater quality in Lodz sewage system (Poland)—do the current solutions enable the protection of WWTP and receiving water?

Solving urban wastewater management problems requires knowledge of wastewater composition and variability. In the case of combined sewerage, this applies to both dry and wet weather. Wastewater composition is changing as a result of the appearance of new substances on the market, the changes in inhabitant lifestyle and the catchment characteristic; therefore, it must be constantly monitored. At the same time, due to the time-consuming and high costs of measurement campaigns, solutions that could limit their scope and facilitate the interpretation of the results are sought. This paper presents the results of the measurement campaign conducted in 2018–2021. The aim of the monitoring was, inter alia, assessment of wastewater composition in terms of threats to wastewater treatment plant and urban rivers, which are receivers of discharge from combined sewer overflows. The obtained results were analyzed using the multivariate statistical methods: Principal Component Analysis and Cluster Analysis. However, the applied methods did not allow for the full identification of the relationship between the wastewater quality parameters as well as the differences and similarities in the wastewater composition from individual parts of the city, which could simplify and reduce the measurement campaigns in the future. Therefore, in the case of large urban catchments, it is necessary to introduce other solutions to control the wastewater composition.