Electrocoagulative and Biological Treatment of Laundry Wastewater

Abstract

The greater demand for potable water, both locally and worldwide, has directed a huge interest amongst researchers to investigate the possibility of recycling and reusing wastewater from laundry run-offs. The advantage of using recycling wastewater from such sources is mainly due to the fact that these bulk volumes of wastewater are considered to be less chemically polluted in comparison to those discarded from industrial effluents and wastewater sources. Almost all laundry detergents contain surfactants, whose main function serves to remove dirt/soil from contaminated items. Thus, an analysis of the surfactant levels before and after a treatment process is important to confirm that the surfactant has in fact carried out its intended purpose. Electrocoagulative treatment of wastewater, a well-researched and well-documented clean-up process that involves the production of aluminium hydroxy species by oxidation of aluminium metal upon the application of a controlled voltage which adsorbs fine particulate matter and pollutants from the wastewater has been investigated as a clean-up application to the treatment of laundry wastewater. The use of a biological treatment process which entails treating the wastewater with aerobic bacterial specie specifically designed to degrade fats, lipids, protein, detergents and hydrocarbons has also been investigated.