Hospital Germs in Treated Water?

When sewage and waste water is treated before being released into local waterways or used as fertilizer, the vast majority of bacteria are removed; but not all.

Hospitals are natural repositories of multiple antibiotic resistant bacteria. Researchers in France discovered that treated hospital waste water contained significant levels of drug resistant bacteria; the treatment only removed 94% of these (while removing 98% of others).

Swimming in these waters and possible contamination of foods with more toxic bacteria may result if this is not monitored properly. On the other hand this has not yet happened so it may just be an interesting finding.

The hospital pictured here is the one where I was born at!