IMPACT OF HOSPITAL WASTEWATER ON ENVIRONMENT: CASES OF HOSPITALS FROM MOROCCO AND ALGERIA (FEZ, MEKNES, TLEMCEN)

The management of liquid wastes from sanitary establishments in developing countries constitutes a large environmental challenge. The present study focuses on three important hospitals in North African countries: the Hassan II University Hospital of Fez (Morocco), the Mohamed V Hospital of Meknes (Morocco) and the University Hospital of Tlemcen (Algeria). The objective of this work is to assess the principal pollutants in the effluents of these hospitals. Physicochemical parameters studied include BOD₅, COD, and heavy metals (e.g., Fe, Pb, Hg, Zn, Al, As, Cd, Co, Cr, and Cu). Concentrations of some parameters (e.g., Hg, F) exceed environmental standards. Wastewaters from Mohamed V hospital contain various pollutants, which are discharged directly to the purification network of the city without any pretreatment. The wastewaters have appeared recently in the Ain Choubbik district, where they are used for the irrigation of truck farms, cereal crops and tree crops. In Fez and Tlemcen, liquid wastes are connected directly to the purification networks without any pretreatment and flow into streams. The discharge of these effluents in the urban sewer network or in the natural environment represents a significant contribution to the contamination of aquatic environments and generates a harmful situation for human health, particularly for riparian residents.