Tratamento das águas residuárias geradas no hospital veterinário da Universidade de Santa Cruz do Sul (UNISC) através de sistema integrado.

Abstract

Currently, the concern about pharmaceutical and veterinary pollutants has gained significant environmental attention due to the increasing consumption of these medications and the inadequate disposal of their residues into the environment. Veterinary hospitals frequently use large quantities of pharmaceuticals, and the generated effluents are often untreated, being directly discharged into water bodies. This study aimed to evaluate sustainable water management in a university veterinary hospital, including the construction project of the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), its initial operation, and monitoring of parameters related to the ge A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was conducted on the WWTP at the Veterinary Hospital of the University of Santa Cruz do Sul (HV-UNISC), focusing on construction phases, energy consumption, and carbon footprint. Additionally, an experimental study was performed to evaluate the operational performance of the system. The LCA analysis indicated that the wastewater treatment station achieved over 90% efficiency in reducing eutrophication potential and dissolved oxygen depletion in effluents, along with the generation of over 180 tons of biogenic methane (CH4). The construction phase showed a significant environmental impact, particularly the Subsurface Horizontal Flow Constructed Wetlands (SSHFCW), accounting for 36.6% of the identified impact. The system’s operation also had a notable impact due to the use of diesel-based electricity (23.3%). The carbon footprint of the system was estimated at 2,380 tCO2eq over 20 The WWTP’s performance was evaluated based on parameters such as Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD5), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), total phosphorus, pH, turbidity, electrical conductivity, ammoniacal nitrogen, total dissolved solids (TDS), total nitrogen (TN), total organic carbon (TOC), and inorganic carbon (IC). The integrated system, including Subsurface Horizontal Flow Constructed Wetlands, demonstrated pollutant removal efficiency, with average reductions of 98% for COD, 59% for BOD5, 87.5% for TN, 44% for total phosphorus, 83.8% for TOC, 69.9% for IC, 95% for turbidity, and 78% for TDS. The results confirmed the effectiveness of the integrated system as a promising alternative for treating veterinary hospital effluents. This study assessed both the inflow and outflow of the integrated system, considering all implemented treatment stages. The research highlights the relevance of multi-treatment systems, such as Constructed Wetlands, to improve the quality of effluents treated in veterinary hospitals.