Efficacy of radiation technologies in reducing microbial contamination in hospital wastewater
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Date
2026-02-14
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Springer
Abstract
This study evaluates the effectiveness of ionizing radiation in reducing the microbial loads of hospital wastewater, comparing
to on-site hospital treatment plant and membrane bioreactor system. The gamma irradiation above 2 kGy significantly
outperformed other processes. Gamma treatment at 4.5 kGy provided more efficient treatment with a 4 log reduction in total
aerobic mesophilic bacteria, compared to 1.4 and 2.9 log reductions for the on-site and combined on-site/membrane treatment
systems. Enterococcus faecium was identified as the most radio-resistant strain. The investigation of dose rate effect
on E. faecium inactivation revealed that the D10
value decreased (2.17, 1.49, and 0.76 kGy) with an increase in dose rate
(257 Gy/h for gamma-ray, 1087 Gy/h for gamma-ray, and 2500 Gy/s for e-beam). These findings demonstrate that radiation
processing offers a robust solution for reducing global health risks associated with hospital wastewater.
Description
Keywords
Hospital wastewater, Gamma ray, Electron beam, Bacteria, D10 value, Dose rate