Hospital wastewater is heavily loaded with organic pollutants and pathogens, making it one of the harder effluents to treat. This study tested an alternative technology combining ozonation with CaO (lime) and Moringa oleifera seed to bring down two key pollution indicators: biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD).
Published in an open-access IOP Conference Series volume, the experiment used a 45-minute ozonation contact time with a 1.5:1 CaO-to-moringa ratio on wastewater from a hospital in Surakarta, Indonesia.
Key findings
- The combined treatment reduced BOD by 56.0%.
- It reduced COD by 63.5%.
- Ozone broke down complex organics while moringa and lime supported coagulation and clarification.
Caveat: a laboratory-scale study on the sampled hospital wastewater; full-scale results depend on effluent variability and process control.
Summary of: Nurilma, V. N. et al. (2023). “Treatment of Hospital Wastewater Using Combination of Ozone Technology With CaO and Moringa Seed.” IOP Conf. Ser.: Earth Environ. Sci., 1165, 012031. DOI: 10.1088/1755-1315/1165/1/012031. Summarised by MORIFA; full paper via the link above.