The relationship between composition and toxicity of tannery wastewater

Abstract

Key toxic components have been identified in pre-treated tannery wastewater with fractionation of samples through chemical and physical means (filtration, air stripping, adsorption on activated carbon, …). The goal of each fractionation step was to reduce the toxicity due to a specific group of chemicals and compare the results to the toxicity present in the unaltered sample. Toxicity short-term tests with the invertebrate Daphnia magna and the bacterial luminescence inhibition test with Vibrio fischeri were used in combination with chemical analyses. During the toxicity identification and evaluation fractionation, a portion of the sample was pressure filtered. Treated samples contained less organic pollution and metals and were less toxic especially to Daphnia magna. For the removal of ammonia the second portion of sample was air-stripped at different pH levels. We removed 84% of ammonia at pH 11; the toxicity to both organisms decreased but ammonia did not have a deciding effect on the toxicity of tannery wastewater when the organic load was still present. The most successful procedure for toxicity removal was adsorption on powdered activated carbon. We removed organic pollution detected as COD, organic nitrogen compounds and part of the metals. Zeolite treatment was a little less successful for removing ammonia than air-stripping.