Abstract
As hospitals require the usage of various hazardous drugs and chemicals in its daily operation, the often contaminated wastewater of health facilities needs to be processed to comply with the quality standards specified in Regulation of the Governor of DKI Jakarta No. 65/2013. However, wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) can also pollute not only water but also the ambient air of facilities. The objective of this research is to identify airborne bacteria and the concentration of fungi due to the presence of WTP and to analyse the types of bacteria that exist through Gram Staining. Microbial air samples taken using EMS E6 showed that the average concentration of bioaerosol at hospital’s WWTP was about 810-1,915 CFU/m 3 for bacteria and 1,450-1,955 CFU/m 3 for fungi. Furthermore, the highest concentration of bacteria and fungi found in the surrounding equalization and aeration tanks was 1,915 CFU/m 3 and 1,955 CFU/m 3 , respectively, which far exceeded the background value of 80 CFU/m 3 for bacteria and 440 CFU/m 3 for fungi. Gram staining of the bacteria found in the air surrounding WWTP showed 94% Gram-negative with the bacteria being pathogenic. Therefore, it is pertinent that further action is taken to prevent bioaerosol from spreading around WWTP by building better ventilation surrounding the plants, indicating the technology of the treatment plant to be used, and enforcing personal safety measures on WWTP’s employees.
Highlights
Hospital wastewater contains pathogenic, toxic, degradable, and radioactive contaminants which have harmful effect on health [1]; it requires treatment prior to the surface water discharge
The microorganism contained in bioaerosol such as bacteria and fungi are commonly found in the surrounding wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) [8, 9]
The highest concentration of bacteria in equalization unit was 1,915 CFU/m3, while the highest concentration of fungi in aeration unit was 1,955 CFU/m3. This high concentration in equalization unit indicated the utilization of microorganism used in wastewater treatment plant to reduce organic pollutants in wastewater
Summary
Toxic, degradable, and radioactive contaminants which have harmful effect on health [1]; it requires treatment prior to the surface water discharge. Bioaerosol in WWTP comes from bubbles generated from aeration process or oxygen from degradation process [10] which can be pathogenic and can cause allergy if inhaled making this bioaerosol existence highly influential in the quality of the ambient air [11]. The magnitude of this bioaerosol emission is influenced by factors such as WWTP capacity, applied treatment plant technology, applied treatment plant machines, applied treatment method, and content of contaminants in wastewater [10]. The purpose of this research is to analyze: 1) the concentration of bacteria and fungi in WWT’s ambient air; 2) the influence of temperature, humidity, and wind on WWTP’s ambient air; and 3) the existence of pathogenic bacteria in air sample
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