Thoughts on reducing the source of infection and preventing disease in hospital toilet system (Reprint)

     In the face of the outbreak of infectious diseases, the two rapidly built emergency hospitals are inspiring, which has inspired planning and construction practitioners to think about many aspects of hospital construction and epidemic prevention. From the perspective of system, the hospital is like a precision operating machine, relying on a variety of systems to achieve strict medical process. There are not only the space separation system of clean and dirty area, the moving line system of doctor-patient separation, the equipment system and information system of flexible control, but also the material circulation system of supply, use and waste collection, treatment and transfer of medical and living materials, etc. all kinds of systems work together. This paper will put forward some design thinking on how to carry out epidemic prevention for toilet system in hospital.

Current situation of hospital toilets

    The process management and equipment support of various systems in the hospital are usually mature, and also have strict specification requirements. However, the toilet system which is most frequently used and easily despised in the hospital is relatively weak. The reason why it is relatively weak is not that the current toilet, sewage and sewage treatment technologies are backward, but that the industrialization integration, material flow controllability and epidemic prevention and control of the whole toilet system from the end of use to the end of treatment and discharge are obviously lagging behind the development of other building systems (such as HVAC system).

     At present, the gravity water flushing toilet system is widely used in hospitals. The front end is the water flushing toilet. Through the gravity pipe network, sewage from various sources is collected and discharged into the terminal septic tank and water treatment facilities, and then discharged into the municipal system. When the hospital is faced with rapid construction and the possibility of spread of feces and aerosols in the epidemic situation, how to reduce the pollution opportunities at the toilet end, reduce the amount of sewage discharge, facilitate the collection, detection and treatment of sewage in different areas, and realize the requirements of rapid installation and intelligent monitoring all pose challenges to the current toilet system mode.

Epidemic prevention measures for hospital toilets

     The author thinks that the technology of vacuum drainage toilet widely used in aircraft and high-speed railway can greatly improve the comprehensive controllability of toilet system in hospitals, especially in infectious diseases hospitals. First of all, the whole vacuum drainage technology system is a closed system from the end of use to the end of sewage collection, which is controlled by air negative pressure. The toilet is not flushed by gravity water, but by suction, which can effectively reduce the formation of water droplet splashing and aerosol in the process of flushing.

     Secondly, the amount of water flushed by the vacuum toilet is 0.5-1L each time. Compared with the amount of water flushed by the traditional toilet, the amount of water saved is more than 70%, which can greatly reduce the total amount of sewage and the environmental pressure of sewage treatment and discharge.

     In addition, the vacuum drainage technology changes the toilet system from passive mixed discharge to active collection and treatment, which can separate and collect sewage from different sources, such as fecal sewage, and then carry out classified treatment, so as to reduce the complexity and cost of sewage treatment. For infectious disease hospitals, fecal sewage and sewage in different areas such as medical care and patients can be collected and treated separately, which is conducive to monitoring the infection of various groups through the collection end.

     Finally, because the technical system relies on the aerodynamic force, it gets rid of the restrictions of gravity and roof vent pipe, and can drain horizontally or upward without slope making. The pipe network layout is flexible, the pipe diameter is small and the buried depth is shallow, which is very conducive to the rapid installation and Implementation. The whole system can monitor the tightness and smoothness of the pipeline through the sensor and network. The freedom of pipe network layout also brings greater flexibility to the hospital's medical space layout, especially to provide greater convenience and epidemic prevention guarantee for the "shelter hospital" and infectious disease hospital to be urgently transformed.

     Therefore, improve the overall integration and controllable performance of toilet system to further improve the pollutant control level of the hospital and enhance the epidemic prevention and control ability of the hospital.

    Author brief introduction

    Yongquan Chen

    Associate Professor, School of architecture and art, Beijing Jiaotong University

    Doctor of engineering, Tsinghua University

    National first class Registered Architect

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