A critical study on the treatability of metal plating industry wastewater and real scale adaptation

Abstract

Water pollution is one of the major problems for humankind. Various pollutants could be detected in wastewater because of human activities such as industrialization, agriculture, domestic waste and etc. Removal of pollutants such as heavy metals, dyes, oils and pesticides are of great importance which affects human life negatively. Many methods have been extensively used to provide “clean water” for environment and human. Heavy metals are important industrial pollutants that need to be quickly removed from wastewater due to their high toxicity and non-biodegradable structure. In this paper, the heavy metals including copper, nickel and zinc have been examined in real wastewater from metal plating industry in Bursa, Türkiye. Concentrations of pollutants (Cu, Ni, Zn, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and SO4) in the effluent as a result of coagulation-flocculation process were determined and their compliance with sewage discharge standards was investigated. Moreover, the removal efficiencies of the pollutants were examined (Cu and Ni: 97-100%; Zn: 82-98%; COD: 32-54%; SO4: 16-23%) and the effect of the coagulant doses used on the operating cost, sludge quantity were also discussed.