Principal Component Analysis of Physicochemical and Microbiological Pollutants in Hospital Wastewater: A Diurnal and Seasonal Dynamics Case Study

Hospital wastewater (HWW) is of particular public and environmental health concern because it represents a complex and toxic effluent. The objective of this study was to perform an exhaustive physicochemical and microbiological study of raw effluent of Mohammed VI University Hospital, Marrakech, Morocco, in order to determine the major pollution gradients and for the design of an optimum treatment process. Grab samples were taken four times a day from October 2022 to January 2023 and analyzed for a number of parameters such as BOD₅, COD, TSS, nutrients, and the important bacterial indicators. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to study the complicated dataset. The research revealed that organic (mean BOD₅: 523 mg/L), mineral (mean TSS: 1120 mg/L; EC: 2094 µS/cm), and microbiological contaminants far surpassed national discharge constraint. PCA captured 95.83% of variance extremely well with a major axis (F1) dominated by seasonal temperature and a secondary axis (F2) of extremely strong global pollution gradient. This survey revealed a distinct diurnal trend, with the load of pollution reaching a maximum at 11:00 and 16:00. On the basis of peak Total Suspended Solids (TSS) and microbial loads, this paper concludes by suggesting that the most appropriate on-site treatment technology is a Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) system. High-resolution temporal data form a critical basis for the design and optimization of such a system, and form an unambiguous route to environmental and public health risk reduction.