The latest WHO report on antimicrobial resistance surveillance, Antimicrobial resistance surveillance in Europe 2022, highlights the scale of the challenge now facing hospitals, reports Pharmafilter.
It said: “Infections caused by common bacteria like Klebsiella pneumoniae and Acinetobacter spp show high and increasing levels (above 50%) of resistance to treatment. Over 20% of E.coli isolates were found to be resistant to both first-line drugs and second-line treatments.” The company continued: “With the emergence of advanced on-site wastewater treatment, hospitals can now prevent the passage of antibiotics and multi-drug resistant genes into the environment through wastewater, a significant pathway for these pollutants. Pharmafilter works with hospitals throughout Europe to treat large daily volumes of effluent that, in our experience, are rich with pharmaceuticals, metabolites, cytotoxins, and pathogenic contamination.”
Pharmafilter’s system decontaminates waste and purifies wastewater at its source. A small treatment plant connects to a hospital’s sewerage before outfall to mains, and captures all wastes introduced to the system via on-ward shredders, sinks, toilets, showers, and drains. It uses a process of time and temperature (specifically hydrolysis, ultrafiltration, high flux ozonation, activated carbon, and ultraviolet light) to remove all pharmaceuticals, micropollutants, and contaminants, below a detectable limit. The result is ‘highly polished water that can be recycled as greywater, or discharged to public sewers’.
Pharmafilter engages in continuous product development throughout the extensive life of contracts, working with partner hospitals to meet the requirements of new and evolving environmental regulations. Its system has been licensed under an EA IED, Utility wastewater discharge, and Local Authority building permit. The company added: “Hospitals can treat their wastewater and waste as a resource, reducing and recovering water, and harvesting thermal energy and materials with a high calorific value, while radically reducing their environmental footprint.”
