Preliminary communication

Electrochemical disinfection of hospital wastewater

Anđelina Bubalo orcid.org/0000-0002-0333-5426 ; Dok-ing Energo d.o.o., Zagreb, Hrvatska
Morana Drušković orcid.org/0000-0002-3745-8002 ; Dok-ing Energo d.o.o., Zagreb, Hrvatska
Jasna Hrenović orcid.org/0000-0001-8513-3993 ; Sveučilište u Zagrebu, Prirodoslovno-matematički fakultet, Zagreb, Hrvatska

Abstract

Carbapenem-resistant bacteria (CRB) are the leading cause of emergent hospital-acquired infections worldwide. The CRB have been found in hospital wastewater, where they spread through the common sewer into the environment. The presence of CRB in the environment poses a public health risk. The paper explores the efficiency of electrochemical wastewater disinfection to remove emergent CRB. Low voltage direct current (DC) showed a bactericidal effect on the pure culture of CRB Acinetobacter baumannii in saline. After the reaction time of 300 s of implemented low voltage DC, 25 % of CRB was removed from raw hospital wastewater. There was a significant reduction in the concentration of ammonium ion (NH4+), the pH value of water remained neutral and the water temperature did not exceed 36℃. The disinfection of hospital wastewater with electrochemical processes appears to be a promising alternative to insufficiently efficient chemical disinfection of water in the prevention of the CRM spread into the environment.

Keywords

bacteria, pathogens, antibiotic resistance, electrochemical disinfection, direct current

Hrčak ID:

254507

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/254507

Publication date:

30.12.2020.

Article data in other languages: croatian german

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