Characteristics of Effluent from Medical Wastewater Treatment: A Case Study in Vietnamese Mekong Delta

The study evaluates the current status of wastewater quality after treatment at major medical facilities in Vietnamese Mekong Delta province. Medical wastewater samples were collected at eight locations (designated from YT1 to YT8) including two general hospitals and six district health centers during the period from March to May 2020. The quality of effluents is evaluated based on the National Technical Regulations on quality of medical wastewater into water used for domestic purposes (QCVN 28:2010/BTMNT, Column A). The effluent parameters including pH, total suspended solids (TSS), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD), phosphate (PO₄^3-), nitrate (NO₃^-), ammonium (NH₄⁺), sulfide (S^2-) and coliform were used for the assessment. The results showed pH, TSS, BOD, COD, NO₃^- and coliform did not pass the standard limits. pH was high at YT8, TSS was high at YT1. BOD and COD were high at YT4 while NO₃^- was high at YT1, YT2, YT3 and YT5. Density of coliform was always high in the effluents. The effluent at YT1 was at the highest pollution level while that of YT8 met most of the discharge requirements, except for pH. The study found that effluents from medical wastewater treatments are one of the key sources of surface water pollution. Appropriate actions are urgently needed to improve efficiency of the medical wastewater treatment systems since it currently works inefficiently.