Assessment of Water Quality and Fungal Contamination in Hospital Wastewater from Erbil City, Iraq

The present study focused on the wastewater from three hospitals in Erbil: Hawler Teaching Hospital, Rezgary Teaching Hospital, and Rozhawa Emergency Hospital. Wastewater samples were collected monthly (December 2024 to February 2025) for some parameters related to water quality, fungal counts, and detections. The study aims to determine the risk of hospital wastewater in terms of contaminated disposal water and to investigate the types of fungi present in it. The results showed that wastewater was characterized by neutral to slightly alkaline. Electrical conductivity (EC) and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) values were high and exceeded local and international discharge guidelines. Related to nutrient content, both phosphate (PO4) and nitrate (NO3) were high in all sampling sites. A total of 13 fungal genera were identified, suggesting that hospital wastewater provides a conducive environment for fungal growth.  The highest number of fungi and the most isolates were detected at Razgary Teaching Hospital, where 8300 (CFU/mL-1) and 16 species of fungi were identified out of a total of 19 species, coinciding with the highest temperature and lowest phosphate concentration compared to other hospitals. The most common fungal species detected in all studied hospitals were: Aspergillus niger, Candida albicans, Geotrichum candidum, Mucor sp., and Penicillium sp. The results highlighted that the risk of polluted hospital wastewater poses a threat to both public health and the environment. Therefore, it is necessary to build sewage treatment units and monitor the quality of the discharged water.