Abstract

The major part of textile processes is based on chemical reactions carried out in aqueous heterogeneous systems which eventually generates effluents of extremely variable composition and constitute an environmental risk of major concern.  This study, focused on investigating the characteristic of effluent from textile industry which generates about 1577 m³ wastes per day and the effectiveness of the wastewater treatment technique practiced. Wastewater samples were collected at four different outlets within the company premises twice within two months (November and December). The ranges of the physico-chemical parameters studied were as follows: pH 7.12 - 12.99, temperature 28.33 - 64.00°C, total solids (TS) 2000 – 31800 mgL^-1, total suspended solids (TSS)  300 – 780 mgL^-1, dissolved oxygen (DO) N.D - 1.50 mgL^-1, chemical oxygen demand (COD) N.D – 350 mgL^-1, oil and grease 160 – 2370 mgL^-1, Chlorides 21 - 1064 mgL^-1, Sulphide 1060 – 1400 mgL^-1, Chromium (Cr) 0.09 - 0.67 mgL^-1, Cadmium (Cd) 0.04 - 0.31 mgL^-1 and lead (Pd) N.D - 0.35 mgL^-1. The percentage removal was also determined for each investigated parameters with values ranging as follows: TS; 15.1 - 86.5%, TSS; 46.4 - 51.3%, oil and grease; 35.0 - 92.9%, chloride; 27.6 - 65.5%, sulphide; 18.5 - 24.3%, heavy metals (Cr, Cd and Pd); 2.9 - 86.6%, temperature; 27.9 - 55.7%, pH; 20.3 - 45.2%

Key words: Textile processes, wastewater, effluents, treatment plant, removal efficiency, physico-chemical.