An integrated electro-chemical and natural treatment system for industrial water pollution control

Experiments were conducted to test the feasibility of applying an integrated electro-chemical (EC) and natural treatment system for treatment of some industrial wastewaters. The EC process was found to be very effective in removing lead, a model heavy metal from some wastewaters. Within 20 minutes of operation time, 5 to 10 A of electric current and specific surface area of electrode of 46.51 m2/m3, the lead concentrations in the wastewaters were reduced from 35-100 mg/l to less than 1 mg/l. Based on a kinetic model developed from the experimental data, the important parameters for the EC process were found to be electric current, specific surface area of electrode, and operation time. From scanning electron microscopic and X-ray diffractometric (XRD) analysis, the EC sludge samples were found to compose mainly of maghemite (Fe2O3), magnetite (Fe3O4), and laurionite (PbClOH), suitable for disposal to secure landfills. Two pilot-scale constructed wetlands (CW) in series, a model natural treatment system, were employed to treat wastewaters of an industrial estate in Thailand. At organic loading rates of 57-140 kg BOD/hectare-year, these constructed wetlands were able to reduce BOD from 90 to 4 mg/l, while suspended solids, total nitrogen and total phosphorus were reduced from 100 to 10 mg/l, 24 to 4.6 mg/l and 7 to 1.5 mg/l, respectively, during the summer season. These results demonstrated technical feasibility of CW in removing organic and other pollutants contained in this industrial wastewater.