The Leishenshan hospital 

On March 15, the research project “the disposal of medical waste& wastewater sludge and the impact and treatment countermeasures of soil and groundwater during the COVID-19 pandemic”, led by China University of Geosciences (CUG) in Wuhan, was officially launched. Prof. WANG Yanxin, academician of Chinese Academy of Science and also president of CUG, is in charge of the project. Institute of Hydrobiology (IHB) of Chinese Academy of Sciences undertakes the research task of the safe treatment of medical wastewater and water ecological restoration in highly sensitive waters. Five institutions, including Wuhan Institute of Virology and Central and Southern China Municipal Engineering Design & Research Institute Co., Ltd., participated in the task, with Prof. WU Zhenbin as the task leader.

Since the development of the pandemic, IHB researchers have worked on the secondary risks investigation of the water ecosystem that may be caused by the prevention and control process, and carried out a series of research work around Wuhan East Lake, South Lake, Leishenshan and Huoshenshan makeshift hospital (Which were built to treat COVID-19 patients) etc. The S&T research on pandemic prevention and control in Wuhan was actively promoted.

On April 19, more than ten IHB researchers, including Prof. WU Zhenbin, Prof. ZHOU Qiaohong, director of the Research Center of Water Environmental Engineering at IHB, Associate Prof. XU Dong, vice president of Wuhan Environmental Protection Research Institute, went to the Leishenshan Hospital and the surrounding Huangjia Lake for research and sampling work.

Accompanied by the staff of the Zhongnan Hospital, the group members investigated the hospital sewage treatment facility and its operation and disinfection treatment conditions. The group then went to Huangjia Lake for water ecological investigation. Water samples, aquatic organisms and sediment samples were collected to investigate the effects of extensive use of disinfectants and disinfection by-products on aquatic organisms and aquatic ecosystem during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Investigation and sampling of water and aquatic organisms in Huangjia Lake. 

The sewage treatment station in Leishenshan Hospital