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The first sustainable hospital wastewater treatment plant in the country was launched on Monday by icddr,b and partners, setting a new benchmark for environmental compliance.
In a transformative step toward safeguarding public health and the environment, icddr,b, in partnership with the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and ITN-BUET under the leadership of Hospital Services Management at the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), has installed the service.
The first low-cost, sustainable hospital wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) has been operationalised at the Kuwait Bangladesh Friendship Government Hospital (KBFGH) in Uttara, Dhaka.
Funded by the Integrated Health Science Research and Development Fund under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), this innovative plant meets the effluent quality requirements of the Bangladesh Environmental Conservation Rules (ECR) 2023, fulfilling the environment ministry's mandate for hospitals to adopt effluent treatment systems.
Despite the requirement to install Effluent Treatment Plants (ETPs), no hospital in Dhaka currently operates compliant systems, such as secondary treatment plants or functional ETPs.
Most rely on outdated methods like septic tanks or anaerobic baffled reactors which are non-functional or inadequately maintained, failing to meet regulatory or public health standards, according to an icddr,b statement.
This gap has allowed untreated wastewater laden with pathogens, antimicrobial-resistant bacteria, and hazardous chemicals to pollute communities, exacerbating disease transmission and environmental harm.
The newly operational 24 Kilolitres Per Day (KLD) Membrane Bioreactor (MBR)-based WWTP at KBFGH employs a six-stage treatment process to produce reusable water for gardening, cleaning, and non-potable uses, said icddr,b.
Rigorous testing confirmed 100 percent removal of faecal pathogens (E. coli), AMR bacteria (ESBL E. coli), Vibrio cholerae, and Salmonella typhi, along with 99 percent reduction of Rotavirus A and full compliance with ECR 2023 standards with respect to other parameters.
The system's compact design, low operational costs, and ease of management by a single operator position it as a scalable solution for hospitals across Bangladesh and other low-resource settings.