Caracterización físico-química, biológica y ecotoxicológica del agua residual de un hospital de la ciudad de Cuenca

Abstract

The wastewater from health institutions like the case of Hospitals include lists of compounds found in small concentrations but with a high degree of risk, coupled with the presence of bacteria, pathogenic virus, emerging contaminants; result of scavenging laboratory excretion of patients, research, among others. Despite the existence of Environmental Quality Standards for effluent discharge, has been necessary to carry out this project to check fulfillment and to assess the level of toxicity of wastewater from one of the hospitals in the city of Cuenca, based on physical, chemical, microbiological and ecotoxicological tests with Lactuca sativa, Dhapnia magna, Brachydanio rerio , Physa venustula and Phaseolus vulgaris species. The results of the analysis physical and chemical wastewater Hospital exceed the maximum permissible limits of current regulations with the exception of chlorides, sulfates, organic and ammonia nitrogen, Ca ++ , Mg ++ and Na +; the burden of total coliforms and E. coli, is high in the wastewater from the Hospital, showing high levels of pollutants within the facility. The effluent samples were toxic to all species tested so the calculation of Acute Toxic Units Uta was performed with the results of the Daphnia magna for being the highest and present significant differences with others, be the result classified as very toxic.