Feasibility study of common effluent treatment plant for management of industrial wastewater: Case study of Bangladeshi textile industries

Abstract

Textile industries play a vital role in the economy of Bangladesh contributing significantly to its gross domestic product. However, they are associated with high environmental pollution, especially water pollution. Since small‐scale textile industries cannot afford the treatment cost of discharged wastewater, they tend to contaminate water sources—both groundwater and surface water. To intervene in response to this situation, the existing treatment system was assessed in the present study. The effluents from industries under this research were analyzed for color, pH, TSS, TDS, chlorides, sulfates, COD, BOD, and total hardness. A Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) with zero liquid discharge was suggested as a solution. It was observed that the water recovery in the proposed scheme by reverse osmosis and salt recovery using nanofiltration were 90%–95% and 80%–90%, respectively. Cost analysis also indicated that the cost of treating water can also be decreased by 18.7% which can show that water recovery is even more affordable for small‐scale industries. Finally, a linear programming model was developed to assist the industries with decision‐making in the selection of treatment schemes. This research revealed that a CETP using zero liquid discharge technology is a potential solution to the environmental crisis due to industrial wastewater discharge. This could ensure reduced water pollution, increased drinking water availability, improved public health, and thus could be a potential driver for environmental sustainability.