Assessment of the impacts of selected physicochemical and bacteriological parameters of wastewater (hospital effluents) from the University teaching hospital of Butare on the surrounding environment

Physicochemical and bacteriological properties are used to assess the quality of wastewater before discharge into the surrounding environment. This presented study was carried out to determine the contamination of effluents from the University Teaching Hospital of Butare. The results showed that the mean values such as 185 ± 7.07 mg/L, 1816 ± 2.83 mg/L, 335 ± 4.24 mg/L, 150.66 ± 2 mg/L, 269 ± 13 mg/L, and 4.19 ± 0.41 mg/L for EC, TDS, TSS, BOD, COD, and phosphates in the treated effluents, exceeded the permissible limits of WHO standards for wastewater discharge in the surrounding environment. In the case of heavy metals, a higher concentration of cadmium (0.29 ± 0.04 mg/L) was observed out of the allowed limit of WHO standard, whereas those for manganese (0.02 ± 0.01 mg/L) and zinc (0.16 ± 0.04 mg/L) were within the stipulated limit. Lead, iron, and chromium were not detected in CHUB treated effluents. Although CHUB treatment plant showed higher treatment efficiency, including 99.2%, 99.9%, and 92.9%, the recorded mean values showed higher abundance (7 × 10⁶ Cfu/100 mL of TC, 6 × 10⁵ Cfu/100 mL, and 5 × 10⁷ Cfu/100 mL) of TC, FC, and E.coli in treated CHUB effluents. The proper treatment of CHUB effluent should be ensured before it is discharged into the environment.