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Industrial Waste Water Quality Standard

Abu Khairul Bashar,

Department of Environmental Sciences, Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Dhaka-1342

Introduction

Water is a transparent fluid which forms the world's streams, lakes, oceans and rain, and is the

major constituent of the fluids of living things. As a chemical compound, a water molecule

contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms that are connected by covalent bonds. Water is a

liquid at standard ambient temperature and pressure, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid

state, ice; and gaseous state, steam (water vapor).Water covers 71% of the Earth's surface. It is

vital for all known forms of life. On Earth, 96.5% of the planet's water is found in seas and oceans,

1.7% in groundwater, 1.7% in glaciers and the ice caps of Antarctica and Greenland, a small

fraction in other large water bodies, and 0.001% in the air as vapor, clouds (formed of solid and

liquid water particles suspended in air), and precipitation. Only 2.5% of the Earth's water is

freshwater, and 98.8% of that water is in ice and groundwater. Less than 0.3% of all freshwater is

in rivers, lakes, and the atmosphere, and an even smaller amount of the Earth's freshwater (0.003%)

is contained within biological bodies and manufactured products. Wastewater is liquid waste

discharged by domestic residences, commercial properties, industry, agriculture, which often

contains some contaminants that result from the mixing of wastewater from different sources.

Based on its origin wastewater can be classed as sanitary, commercial, industrial, agricultural or

surface runoff. Term wastewater need to be separated from the term sewage, sewage is subset of

wastewater that is contaminated with feces or urine though many people use term sewage referring

to any waste water. Water Standard can provide a reliable supply of process water for construction-

site demands, with flexible contract durations to meet short or long term needs. Almost every

industrial process requires water and water demand grows in parallel with increases in the global

industrial base. These sectors include power generation, refineries, construction, agriculture,

metals and mining. In these sectors, large volumes of treated water are involved in the production

process. Companies are increasingly evaluating their water footprint and ways to access, utilize

and reuse water more efficiently. For application in industrial sectors, Water Standard’s mobile

and power independent vessel-based solutions provide a reliable and cost-competitive alternative,

capable of meeting water quality and quantity needs as a site-specific or regional solution. Water

Standard can comply with varing water quality and quantity requirements and has the ability to

ramp up or down to meet fluctuations in water demand. Water Standard also has the design and

operational flexibility to meet a construction site’s wastewater treatment requirements. Water

Standard can also design to provide a construction site with additional power, if needed.

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Sources of Industrial Wastewater

Iron and Steel industry: The production of iron from its ores involves powerful reduction

reactions in blast furnaces. Cooling waters are inevitably contaminated with products especially

ammonia and cyanide. Production of coke from coal in coking plants also requires water cooling

and the use of water in by-products separation. Contamination of waste streams includes

gasification products such as benzene, naphthalene, anthracene, cyanide, ammonia, phenols,

cresols together with a range of more complex organic compounds known collectively as

polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH).The conversion of iron or steel into sheet, wire or rods

requires hot and cold mechanical transformation stages frequently employing water as a lubricant

and coolant. Contaminants include hydraulic oils, tallow and particulate solids. Final treatment of

iron and steel products before onward sale into manufacturing includes pickling in strong mineral

acid to remove rust and prepare the surface for tin or chromium plating or for other surface

treatments such as galvanization or painting. The two acids commonly used are hydrochloric acid

and sulfuric acid. Wastewaters include acidic rinse waters together with waste acid. Although

many plants operate acid recovery plants (particularly those using hydrochloric acid), where the

mineral acid is boiled away from the iron salts, there remains a large volume of highly acid ferrous

sulfate or ferrous chloride to be disposed of. Many steel industry wastewaters are contaminated by

hydraulic oil, also known as soluble oil.

Mines and Quarries: Mine wastewater effluent in Peru, with neutralized pH from tailing runoff.

The principal waste-waters associated with mines and quarries are slurries of rock particles in

water. These arise from rainfall washing exposed surfaces and haul roads and also from rock

washing and grading processes. Volumes of water can be very high, especially rainfall related

arising’s on large sites. Some specialized separation operations, such as coal washing to separate

coal from native rock using density gradients, can produce wastewater contaminated by fine

particulate haematite and surfactants. Oils and hydraulic oils are also common contaminants.

Wastewater from metal mines and ore recovery plants are inevitably contaminated by the minerals

present in the native rock formations. Following crushing and extraction of the desirable materials,

undesirable materials may become contaminated in the wastewater. For metal mines, this can

include unwanted metals such as zinc and other materials such as arsenic. Extraction of high value

metals such as gold and silver may generate slimes containing very fine particles in where physical

removal of contaminants becomes particularly difficult.

Food Industry: Wastewater generated from agricultural and food operations has distinctive

characteristics that set it apart from common municipal wastewater managed by public or private

sewage treatment plants throughout the world: it is biodegradable and nontoxic, but that has high

concentrations of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and suspended solids (SS).[1] The

constituents of food and agriculture wastewater are often complex to predict due to the differences

in BOD and pH in effluents from vegetable, fruit, and meat products and due to the seasonal nature

of food processing and post harvesting. Processing of food from raw materials requires large

volumes of high grade water. Vegetable washing generates waters with high loads of particulate

matter and some dissolved organic matter. It may also contain surfactants.

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Animal slaughter and processing produces very strong organic waste from body fluids, such as

blood, and gut contents. This wastewater is frequently contaminated by significant levels of

antibiotics and growth hormones from the animals and by a variety of pesticides used to control

external parasites. Insecticide residues in fleeces is a particular problem in treating waters

generated in wool processing. Processing food for sale produces wastes generated from cooking

which are often rich in plant organic material and may also contain salt, flavorings, coloring

material and acids or alkali. Very significant quantities of oil or fats may also be present.

Pulp and Paper Industry: Effluent from the pulp and paper industry is generally high in

suspended solids and BOD. Standalone paper mills using imported pulp may only require simple

primary treatment, such as sedimentation or dissolved air flotation. Increased BOD or chemical

oxygen demand (COD) loadings, as well as organic pollutants, may require biological treatment

such as activated sludge or up flow anaerobic sludge blanket reactors. For mills with high inorganic

loadings like salt, tertiary treatments may be required, either general membrane treatments like

ultrafiltration or reverse osmosis or treatments to remove specific contaminants, such as nutrients.

Complex Organic Chemicals Industry: A range of industries manufacture or use complex

organic chemicals. These include pesticides, pharmaceuticals, paints and dyes, petrochemicals,

detergents, plastics, paper pollution, etc. Waste waters can be contaminated by feedstock materials,

by-products, product material in soluble or particulate form, washing and cleaning agents, solvents

and added value products such as plasticizers. Treatment facilities that do not need control of their

effluent typically opt for a type of aerobic treatment, i.e. aerated lagoons.

Nuclear Industry: The waste production from the nuclear and radio-chemicals industry is dealt

with as radioactive waste.

Water Treatment: Many industries have a need to treat water to obtain very high quality water

for demanding purposes. Water treatment produces organic and mineral sludges from filtration

and sedimentation. Ion exchange using natural or synthetic resins removes calcium, magnesium

and carbonate ions from water, replacing them with hydrogen and hydroxyl ions. Regeneration of

ion exchange columns with strong acids and alkalis produces a wastewater rich in hardness ions

which are readily precipitated out, especially when in admixture with other wastewater.

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Water Standards

Some of the main parameters listed in the water quality discharge standards are briefly discussed

here to give a working knowledge of what they are and why they are important.

Colour: Although colour is not included in the Environment Conservation Rules (1997), it is an

issue in dye house effluent because unlike other pollutants it is so visible. Reducing colour is

therefore important for the public perception of a factory. Consequently, international textile

buyers are increasingly setting discharge standards for colour. However, as a health and

environmental issue colour is less of a concern than many of the other parameters.

BOD and COD: Measurement of the oxidisable organic matter in wastewater is usually achieved

through determining the 5-day biological oxygen demand (BOD), the chemical oxygen demand

(COD) and total organic carbon (TOC). BOD is a measure of the quantity of dissolved oxygen

used by microoganisms in the biochemical oxidation of the organic matter in the wastewater over

a 5-day period at 20 C. The test has its limitations but it still used extensively and is useful for

determining approximately how much oxygen will be removed from water by an effluent or how

much may be required for treatment and is therefore important when estimating the size of the

ETP needed. COD is often used as a substitute for BOD as it only takes a few hours not five days

to determine. COD is a measure of the oxygen equivalent of the organic material chemically

oxidised in the reaction and is determined by adding dichromate in an acid solution of the

wastewater.

TDS and TSS: Wastewater can be analyzed for total suspended solids (TSS) and total dissolved

solids (TDS) after removal of coarse solids such as rags and grit. A sample of wastewater is filtered

through a standard filter and the mass of the residue is used to calculate TSS. Total solids (TS) is

found by evaporating the water at a specified temperature. TDS is then calculated by subtracting

TSS from TS.

Metals: A number of metals are listed in the national environmental quality standards for industrial

wastewater, including cadmium, chromium, copper, iron, lead, mercury, nickel and zinc. Many

metals, which are usually only available naturally in trace quantities in the environment, can be

toxic to humans, plants, fish and other aquatic life. Phosphorus, Total Nitrogen, Nitrate and

Ammonia. These parameters are all used as a measure of the nutrients present in the wastewater,

as a high nutrient content can result in excessive plant growth in receiving water bodies, subsequent

oxygen removal and the death of aquatic life.

pH: pH is a measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions in the wastewater and gives an

indication of how acid or alkaline the wastewater is. This parameter is important because aquatic

life such as most fish can only survive in a narrow pH range between roughly pH 6-9.

Sulphur and Sulphide: Textile dyeing uses large quantities of sodium sulphate and some other

sulphur containing chemicals. Textile wastewaters will therefore contain various sulphur

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compounds and once in the environment sulphate is easily converted to sulphide when oxygen has

been removed by the BOD of the effluents. This is a problem because hydrogen sulphide can be

formed which is a very poisonous gas, it also has an unpleasant smell of rotten eggs. The presence

of sulphides in effluents can interfere with biological treatment processes.

Oil and Grease: This includes all oils, fats and waxes, such as kerosene and lubricating oils. Oil

and grease cause unpleasant films on open water bodies and negatively affect aquatic life. They

can also interfere with biological treatment processes and cause maintenance problems as they

coat the surfaces of components of ETPs.

Source: Schedule ±10, Rule-13, Environment Conservation Rules, 1997 (Page 3132 - 3134 of

the Bangladesh Gazette of 28 August 1997)

SI. NO. Parameter Unit Inland

Surface

Water

Public

Sewer

From

Secondary

Treatment

Plant

Irrigable

Land

Ammonia cal

nitrogen

(as elementary N)

mg/l

50 75 75

Ammonia (as free

ammonia)

mg/l

5 0.05 0.2

Arsenic (as As)

mg/l

0.2 0.05 0.2

BOD at 20 C

mg/l

50 250 100

Boron

mg/l

2 2 2

Cadmium (as Cd)

mg/l

0.05 0.5 0. 5

Chloride

mg/l

600 600 600

Chromium (as total

Cr)

mg/l

0.5 0.1 0.1

COD

mg/l

200 400 400

Chromium (as

hexavalent Cr)

mg/l

0.5 1 1

6

Copper (as Cu)

mg/l

0.5 3 3

Dissolved oxygen

(DO)

mg/l

4.5-8 4.5-8 4.5-8

(EC) mg/l

1200 1200 1200

Total dissolved

solids

mg/l

2100 2100 2100

Flouride (as F)

mg/l

2 15 10

Sulfide (as S)

mg/l

1 2 2

Iron (as Fe)

mg/l

2 2 2

Total kjeldahl

nitrogen (as N)

mg/l

100 100 100

Lead (as Pb)

mg/l

0.1 1 0.1

Manganese (asMn) mg/l

5 5 5

Mercury (as Hg)

mg/l

0.01 0.01 0.01

Nickel (as Ni)

mg/l

1 2 1

Nitrate (as

elementary N)

mg/l

10 - 10

Oil and grease

mg/l

10 20 10

Phenolic

compounds

(as C5 H5 OH)

mg/l

1 5 1

Dissolved

phosphorus (as P)

mg/l

8 8 15

Radioactive

substance

mg/l

- - -

pH

mg/l

6-9 6-9 6-9

Selenium (as Se) mg/l 0.05 0.05 0.05

7

Zinc (as Zn)

mg/l

5 10 10

Total dissolved

solids

mg/l

2100 2100 2100

Temperature

mg/l

40 40 40

Suspended solids

mg/l

150 500 200

Cyanide (As Cn)

mg/l

0.1 2 0.2

Table-1: Bangladesh Standards for Industrial Project Effluent according to EQSB of DOE

Chart-1: Inland Surface Water, Public Sewer from Secondary Treatment Plant and Irrigable Land

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Category 1 Category 2 Category 3 Category 4

Industrial Wastewater Quality Standard

Series 1 Series 2 Series 3

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Source: Arsenic Filters for Groundwater in Bangladesh: Toward a Sustainable Solution

Author: Abul Hussam, Sad Ahamed, and Abul K.M. Munir

Constituent EPA (MCL) WHO Guideline Bangladeshi Standard

Arsenic (total) – g/L 10 10 50

Arsenic (III) – g/L - - -

Iron (total) – mg/L 0.3 0.3 0.3 (1.0)

pH 6.5–8.5 6.5–8.5 6.5–8.5

Sodium – mg/L - 200 -

Calcium – mg/L - - 75 (200)

Manganese – mg/L 0.5 0.1–0.5 0.1 (0.5)

Aluminum – mg/L 0.05–0.2 0.2 0.1(0.2)

Barium – mg/L 2.0 0.7 1.0

Chloride – mg/L 250 250 200 (600)

Phosphate – mg/L - - 6

Sulfate – mg/L - - 100

Silicate – mg/L - - -

Table-2: Water Quality of EPA, World Health Organization (WHO), and Bangladeshi Standards.

Chart-2: EPA, World Health Organization (WHO), and Bangladeshi Standards

4.3

2.5

3.5

4.5

2.4

4.4

1.8

2.8

2 2

3

5

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Category 1 Category 2 Category 3 Category 4

Industrial Waste Water Standards

Series 1 Series 2 Series 3

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Conclusion

Wastewater, otherwise known as effluent, as a bi-product of their production. The effluent contains

several pollutants, which can be removed with the help of an effluent treatment plant (ETP). The

“clean” water can then be safely discharged into the environment. In Bangladesh due to textile

dyeing industries, the main negative impact afflicting the local environment severely is the hazards

caused by dye effluents, which contain both chemical and organic pollutants. These can be highly

toxic. This Research has found that the volume of such effluents often exceeds acceptable

standards. Though the volume of effluents from individual small-scale dyers might be small, the

concentration of pollutants is generally high. The impact is significant where several producers are

located at one place and discharge effluents into the same body of water. Large-scale dyers on the

other hand generate greater volumes of effluent but show lower pollutant content per cubic meter

of water. The results of the study reveal that, the textile dyeing industries discharge large quantities

of effluent composed of various physicochemical pollutants at significant higher level than

standard value of DOE except some industries which have authentic waste water treatment plant.

From the above findings it can be easily said that, the water of Turag and Shitalakkhya River is

getting highly polluted by the effluent discharged by the dyeing industries of the study area. The

concentration of these pollutants is increasing in an alarming rate with the increasing number of

textile dyeing industries. So the above mitigation measures can be effective to minimize the

pollution to a significant extent. Last of all, for the greater benefits of our country, all people

involved in textile dyeing should be environmentally conscious to preserve our environment as

well as to carry the reputation of our readymade garments in developed countries.

References

www.Wikipedia.com

Amio Water Treatment Limited, 2010.

Textile Dyeing Industries in Bangladesh for Sustainable Development by M. M. Islam, K.

Mahmud, O. Faruk, and M. S. Billah

Choosing an Effluent Treatment Plant by M. Akhtaruzzaman, Alexandra Clemett, Jerry

Knapp, Mahbubul A. Mahmood, Samiya Ahmed.

Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, National Policy for Safe Water

Supply & Sanitation 1998 Local Government Division, Ministry of Local Government,

Rural Development and Cooperatives

Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh (2000), The

Environment Conservation Rules 1997, (unofficial translation),

Ministry of Environment and Forests, Dhaka.

Metcalf and Eddy (2003) Wastewater Engineering Treatment and Reuse McGraw - Hill,

New York.

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Nicolaou M. and Hadjivassilis I. (1992), Treatment of wastewater from the textile industry,

Water Science and Technology , Vol. 25, No. 1, pp

s