Hospital sewage treatment contains some special pollutants, such as drugs, disinfectants, diagnostic agents, detergents, and a large number of pathogenic microorganisms, parasite eggs, and various viruses, such as roundworm eggs, hepatitis virus, tuberculosis, and dysentery, etc. . In addition, there are radioactive substances such as radium 226, phosphorus, gold 198, and iodine 131 in the sewage of hospitals with isotope clinics. Compared with industrial wastewater and domestic sewage, the hospital sewage treatment has the characteristics of small water volume and strong pollution. If it is discharged directly into the environment without treatment, it will inevitably pollute the water source and spread diseases.
Membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology presents a more efficient system for removing pathological microorganisms compared with existing wastewater treatment systems. MBR can effectively save hospital sewage treatment disinfectant consumption (chlorine addition can decrease to 1.0 mg/L), shorten the reaction time (approximately 1.5 min, 2.5–5% of conventional wastewater treatment process), and attain a good effect of inactivation of microorganism. Higher disinfection efficacy is achieved in MBR effluents at a lower dose of disinfectant with fewer disinfection by-products (DBPs).