Effective Wastewater Treatment for Textile & Dye Industries

Introduction

Did you know that 17 to 20% of industrial water pollution comes from the textile dyeing and finishing industries?

They are considered one of the largest wastewater producers as a large amount of water is required for different processes.

The effluents the industry releases contain biodegradable and non-biodegradable contents that create environmental issues, affecting aquatic plants, animals, and human health.

There are natural, pocket-friendly treatment solutions available to get rid of the toxins present in the water before letting it out into the natural water body.

But before getting into that let’s understand the characteristics of the effluent present in textile industry wastewater.

Understanding the Characteristics of the Effluents

The textile industry is divided into three major sectors: Cotton, Woolen & Synthetic. The divisions are made as the industries with different fibers consume different kinds of artificial dyes and chemicals and follow different processes.

Some of the processes include pre-treatment, dyeing and printing, and finishing.

The primary pollutants are organic, which comes from the pre-treatment process of pulp, cotton gum, cellulose, hemicellulose, carcinogenic dyes, and other printing processes.

The wastewater released by the textile industries contains a vast amount of color, BOD, COD, salt, TSS, and TDs, which are the most contaminated due to the presence of toxic chemicals and dyes.

Hence, it is critically important to treat the wastewater before it is released to maintain a balance in the ecosystem.

Some of the effective ways to treat wastewater are:

1. Physicochemical Method
2. Chemical Method
3. Biological Method

Physicochemical Method

This treatment is most commonly used to remove high levels of chroma and suspended substances. The processes in the physicochemical method are:

• Equalization and homogenization: Pre-treating the polluted wastewater is essential before it reaches the regulating tank. The process avoids materials such as lint, cotton seed shells, and slurry from settling at the bottom of the tank. The wastewater is mixed with air or mechanical mixing equipment.
• Floatation: The second step in treating the wastewater is with the help of floatation. The process produces large amounts of microbubbles to form three-form substances: water, gas, and solids. Under the effect, the microbubbles adhere to the tiny fibers and are effectively removed from the wastewater.
• Coagulation flocculation sedimentation: In this process, heterogeneous matters are removed with the help of mechanical separation. Dissolved matter cannot be adequately removed in this process but can be removed with the help of biological or physical-chemical processes.

Chemical Method

In this treatment, chemicals are applied, which help separate the contaminants from water or neutralize/destroy the harmful effects of pollutants. Currently, Fenton oxidation and ozone oxidation are often used in wastewater treatment.

1. Fenton Reaction: The Fenton reaction is a commonly used chemical method to treat textile effluent, in which decolourization is the biggest concern. The oxidizing agent comes with the leading chemical known as Hydrogen peroxide (H202) to activate the most potent existing oxidizing agent, Hydroxyl radicals. The Fenton reaction is used as a pre-treatment.
2. Ozone Oxidation: This treatment is effective and fast at decolourizing; the treatment can either inhibit or destroy the properties of residual surfactants and oxidize a portion of the COD. The process is suitable for improving the biodegradability of textile effluents, which contain many toxic and non-biodegradable components.
3. Adsorption: One of the most commonly used wastewater treatments in physicochemicals is adsorption. The process can efficiently adsorb and remove the pollutants on the surface of the filter.
4. Membrane Separation Process: Membrane separation is the process of filtering with the use of membrane micropores. The treatment is used mainly to treat dyeing wastewater with the help of reverse osmosis, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, and microfiltration.
   • Reverse osmosis: Reverse osmosis removes mineral salts, hydrolyzed reactive dyes, and chemical auxiliaries.
   • Nanofiltration: This process is applied to treat coloured effluents from the textile industry. The filtration process decreases concentration polarizing with highly concentrated and complex solutions.
   • Ultrafiltration: Ultrafiltration is the process of eliminating macromolecules and particles such as pollutants, but the process doesn’t eliminate the polluting substances completely.
   • Microfiltration: Microfiltration is the process used to treat bath dyes, which contain pigment dyes. The treatment can be used as a pre-treatment for nanofiltration or reverse osmosis.

Biological Wastewater Treatment Method

The biological wastewater treatment effectively degrades the organic matter in the effluent for organic dye industries. The biological treatment method is divided into aerobic and anaerobic treatment.

• Aerobic Biological Treatment

Aerobic biological treatment helps purify the wastewater with aerobic bacteria and facultative bacteria. The process has many benefits in reducing high COD/BOD in effluent waters containing high TDS.

Many aerobic solutions are available in the industry, but Organica Biotech offers an effective microbial solution for aerobic wastewater treatment, with microbes that can thrive in high TDS effluents.

After conducting years of research, we developed a revolutionary product, Cleanmaxx, an effective biological aerobic wastewater treatment solution.

The bacterial strains in Cleanmaxx are capable of rapid biomass development and can withstand fluctuations in wastewater quality.

It accelerates COD/BOD reduction, rapidly reduces the time required for effective aerobic wastewater treatment, and reduces energy spent in aeration & agitation, thereby cutting CAPEX/OPEX costs.

Are you splurging on unnecessary maintenance costs in your treatment plant? Reach out to our wastewater experts for an effective solution that causes no harm to the environment!