Modern wastewater treatment facilities - Limit environmental pollution

(Baonghean) -Along with the upgrading of wastewater treatment systems at 10 public hospitals in the province, recently 4 district-level general hospitals in Thanh Chuong, Yen Thanh, Cua Lo Town, Nghi Loc received investment funding from the LienAid project (Singapore) to build new wastewater treatment systems that meet standards.

Nghe An currently has 41 hospitals, of which only 14 have wastewater treatment systems. These are the following hospitals: Provincial General Hospital, Vinh City General Hospital, Anh Son General Hospital, Que Phong General Hospital, Military Region 4 Hospital, Quynh Lap Central Dermatology and Leprosy Hospital and 7 other private hospitals. In the remaining hospitals, wastewater from toilets is only treated in the first step by septic tanks, then discharged directly into the surrounding environment. Hospital wastewater is extremely hazardous, not only containing pathogens but also toxic chemicals that remain for a long time, directly affecting public health.

According to Mr. Nguyen Duy Que - an expert from the Department of Health, before investing in and upgrading the wastewater treatment system, the wastewater treatment system in hospitals including Quy Chau General Hospital, Traditional Medicine Hospital, Endocrinology Hospital, Mental Hospital, Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital, Nam Dan General Hospital, Hung Nguyen, Tuong Duong, Thanh Chuong, Yen Thanh, Cua Lo, Nghi Loc all did not meet standards, wastewater was treated manually, that is, filtered by septic tanks and then discharged into the environment, with a very high risk of environmental pollution.

People living around the hospitals have to endure and feel frustrated, especially in maternity and pediatric hospitals and district-level general hospitals. But now, with the sponsorship of the LienAid Project, which has sponsored 9.9 billion VND, equivalent to 70% of the project value, the remaining 30% is the province's counterpart fund, 4 district-level hospitals, namely Cua Lo, Nghi Loc, Thanh Chuong and Yen Thanh general hospitals, have been invested in new wastewater treatment systems.



A cluster of wastewater treatment tanks using Japanese technology was invested in Nghe An Maternity and Pediatrics Hospital.

The above project invests in tanks, settling tanks, disinfection tanks, operating houses and wastewater treatment equipment, while the pipeline system collecting from departments to the treatment area must be built by the hospitals. According to the project: The wastewater treatment system of Thanh Chuong General Hospital is invested with a value of 2.84 billion VND, the wastewater treatment system of Yen Thanh General Hospital is worth 2.68 billion VND, the wastewater treatment system of Nghi Loc General Hospital is worth 2.26 billion VND, and the wastewater treatment system of Cua Lo General Hospital is worth 2.88 billion VND. Construction started in September 2012, by May 2013, the wastewater treatment systems in the above 4 hospitals were completed, tested, and replaced the old wastewater systems.

In addition, with the investment of the Central Government, 10 other public hospitals, including 4 provincial hospitals, 6 district hospitals (including: Quy Chau General Hospital, Quy Hop, Ky Son, Tuong Duong, Hung Nguyen, Nam Dan, Psychiatric Hospital, Traditional Medicine Hospital, Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital, Endocrinology Hospital) have been upgraded or invested in building new wastewater treatment systems. With the goal of thoroughly treating wastewater from hospitals before discharging into the environment, hospitals have applied Japanese distributed AAO technology, according to the process: Hospital wastewater goes to a reinforced concrete tank, then goes to a block equipment cluster (including an aerobic tank, a circulating water separator tank, a biological filter, a disinfection compartment, a water collection compartment after treatment), then the water is discharged into the general drainage system. The sludge deposited during the treatment process in the block equipment cluster is brought to the sludge tank.

Observing the monolithic tanks, we see that the tank bottom, tank walls, partitions, and tank lids are made of monolithic reinforced concrete, smoothed bottom, and thickly plastered with cement mortar, ensuring no seepage. Doctor Pham Van Dieu - Deputy Director of Nghe An Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital said: Because the old wastewater treatment system was invested in for too long (since 2004), it has not met its tasks yet, the hospital recently invested in a new wastewater treatment system with a treatment capacity of 250m3/day and night. Currently, the old wastewater treatment system has stopped operating, the hospital's wastewater system is being transferred to the new system for treatment. The hospital is waiting for the procedures for project acceptance, sampling, and wastewater discharge licensing for regular operation.

The total investment capital for the construction of wastewater treatment systems for the 10 hospitals mentioned above is 68 billion VND. Although the investment schedule was to be completed by 2015, the projects have now been completed, 2 years ahead of schedule. When officially put into operation, the problem of wastewater pollution in these hospitals will be solved.

However, currently, for the 4 hospitals that receive funding from the LienAid Singapore Project, because they only receive funding for the main system and do not invest in the collection system, the wastewater collection pipeline system in some district hospitals is degraded and does not completely collect wastewater for treatment. Local authorities need to pay attention and find capital sources to invest in a synchronous system. And after the 14 wastewater treatment projects above come into operation, only 28/41 hospitals are confident when discharging waste into the environment.

Chau Lan