The need to clean up hospital wastewater is now well-recognised. It is rich in the pharmaceutical residues excreted by the patient population, together with a diversity of chemicals such as cleaning agents and disinfectants. The local and wider environmental impact is still somewhat of an unknown quantity but may be profound.

Several in-line exchange resin systems are under trial and though these are proving to be reasonably successful they are technically difficult to manage effectively and costly to operate.

In Oman, the same problem exists and in some part they are way ahead of us in meeting this problem head on. And it’s a case of local solutions for local problems. Perfusing hospital wastewater through palm leaves seems to do the trick.

According to chemists at Sultan Qaboos University, date palm leaves in Oman can now be of help in removing chemicals such as pharmaceuticals and dyes from hospital waste water before it is discharged into the municipal sewerage.

According to estimates around 180,000 tons of date palm leaves are produced annually in Oman. The researchers tested different carbons for removal of certain pharmaceuticals including ciprofloxacin, paracetamol, fexofenadine, lisinoprril, diphenhydramine and chloropheneramine maleate from aquatic solutions. They also examined the removal of heavy metals and some dyes. The results showed that the cheap dehydrated carbon from date palm leaflets proves to be as efficient as activated carbon for removing pharmaceuticals and dyes.

http://main.omanobserver.om/node/112091

Now, how do you get rid of 180,000 tons of soggy, wet, drug-rich date palm leaves?