Thinking Globally, Acting Locally: Water Use in a Hospital Hemodialysis Unit

What is it about?

In the setting of climate change and population growth, water stress is an emerging global concern. Hemodialysis requires large volumes of water. Re-use of reverse osmosis machine reject water is one strategy to curb dialysis-related water consumption. Using the water footprint assessment, we estimated the direct water use of a single hosptial hemodialysis unit and propose strategies for re-use of the reverse osmosis reject water. While targeting hemodialysis water use in hospitals would impact just a fraction of the total hemodialysis-related water consumption in the U.S., it presents an opportunity for local health systems to contribute to global efforts to increase water conservation and environmental sustainability.

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