Green Dialysis

Sustainability Success Story

Client Overview

Client Name: Multi-Specialty Hospital – Number of Beds: 500+
Industry: Healthcare
Location: UAE

Challenge

Hemodialysis is a critical treatment for patients with kidney failure, but it comes with significant environmental challenges. The preparation of dialysis fluid relies heavily on two primary systems: the reverse osmosis (RO) water purification system and the hemodialysis machines themselves.The RO system plays a vital role in ensuring a high-quality water supply for the dialysis process, yet it consumes vast amounts of both water and energy, contributing to a substantial environmental footprint. This case study will explore the challenges associated with the RO system’s resource consumption and its implications for sustainability in dialysis centers. How can we reduce the environmental impact of this essential process while maintaining the quality of care for patients.

Solution Provided

Our consulting service focused on medical equipment and specifically water treatment and reverse osmosis system on the following levels:

Implementation Details

Advanced technology high efficiency reverse osmosis system was selected to save energy and water. The selected system can provide a dialysis water yield of up to 85%. This means out of every ten Liter of dialysis water supplied, 8.5 Liter will supply hemodialysis machines, and 1.5 liter will go to drain.
Large storage water tanks were installed in dialysis center underground area to collect RO reject water (concentrate). The water is then reused for facility cleaning and irrigation.

A distinctive design consideration was given to ensure pretreated water that supplies reverse osmosis system is of high-quality standard. This will help in setting higher yield values on reverse osmosis system. Else a degradation of RO
performance and premature damage of RO membranes could occur due to high yield setting and poor feed quality water.

Results & Outcomes

Quantitative Results

A significant decrease in wastewater produced by RO (Concentrate) was immediately noticed, this is due to high efficiency system used. A straight comparison between using high efficiency and standard reverse osmosis systems shows 37.5% reduction of wastewater.With dialysis operations that spans six days a week/three shifts a day,
this would save more than 14,500 Liter of wastewater daily; a saving of more than 4.5 million litres of water every year.Our water conservation journey did not stop here, with installation of
collection tanks, this reject water gets stored to have a reuse application in the building facility whether in irrigation or cleaning. This
achieved 100% recycling of reverse osmosis systems
wastewate

Water Conservation Using High- Efficiency RO

Staff Count
Staff Cost

RO WASTEWATE IN LITERS IN A YEAR

Key Takeaways

Hemodialysis is a life-saving treatment for patients with kidney failure, which helps remove extra fluid and waste products from blood when the kidneys are not able to
While hemodialysis uses large amounts of water of hundreds of liters per dialysis session, using technological advancement and design consideration for medical equipment can create a big positive impact on sustainability and environmental footprint without compromising patient quality of care.

Water plays a crucial role in hemodialysis, as it is used to prepare the dialysate; the solution that helps filter waste and excess fluids from the blood
The goal of green dialysis is to address these environmental challenges while maintaining high standards of patient care

Conclusion

In summary, implementing an effective reverse osmosis (RO)
system management approach—covering system selection,
design, operation, and water drainage—has led to an impressive water yield of 85%. The remaining 15% of
wastewater is repurposed for various facility activities, such as irrigation and cleaning. Consequently, our Green Dialysis Initiative has successfully conserved over 4.5 million liters of water each year while achieving 100% wastewater recycling. This initiative serves as a prime example of resource recycling efforts that significantly lower the dialysis center’s
carbon footprint without compromising patient care.