A sustainable solution to treat textile effluent by employing combined coagulation, oxidation and ultrafiltration techniques

Abstract

Presently, Pakistan is the 8th largest exporter of textile products in the world andthis sector is considered the backbone of Pakistan’s economy. Due to intensifieduse of dyes, chemicals, and water, the textile sector is also listed as the highestcontributor to environmental pollution. Therefore, to approach the demand of newglobal trend towards sustainability, the textile industry along with others need tofocus on resource recovery and reuse. The present study was therefore plannedfor the treatment of textile effluent composed from 04 textile mill samples. Thetextile effluent is treated by employing coagulation, ozone oxidation, andultrafiltration techniques. All the samples exceeded the standard limits as given inSindh Environmental Quality Standard (SEQS 2016). Each individual treatmentprovided promising results in terms of reduction in pollution load. Overall findingsrevealed a remarkable decrease in total suspended solid (TSS) (96 %), totaldissolved solid (TDS) (78 %), chemical oxygen demand (COD) (93 %), BiologicalOxygen Demand-BOD (93 %), oil & grease (96 %) and heavy metals (HM) (98 %).It is suggested that combined techniques are the best option for textile effluenttreatment.

Keywords

• textile effluents
• coagulation
• ozone oxidation
• ultrafiltration, reuse