Handbook of industrial wastewater treatment: emerging technologies for sustainability

The use of water, one of the most valuable and vital resources in the world, should respond to growing needs, and used water should not have negative effects on the environment. During these decades, the statistics has been showing a higher percentage in discharging of industrial wastewater to wetlands, rivers and coastal areas. There are different types of industrial waste generated depending on type of industries such as iron and steel industry, textiles, leather factory, petro chemical and refineries, mining, metal, paper and pulp factory etc. which discharge pollutants like acids, salts, organic and inorganic chemicals, phenols and other dangerous chemical wastes. This has increased the level of pollution and even caused a serious threat for the entire eco-system and human life. Industrial wastewater treatment uses a variety of techniques, including biological, chemical, and physical, to remove harmful contaminants from wastewater and make it safe for reuse or disposal. Depending upon different characteristics of industrial waste, waste water treatment process is exclusively designed in order to treat particular type of effluent produced. The main purpose of this series of books is to present the technologies for wastewater treatment as applied to the specific condition with the related implications in terms of design and operation. Industrial wastewater treatment, recycling, and reuse is an important theme in today’s context, not just to protect the environment from pollution, but also to conserve water resources so that water stress is reduced.A number of technologies are available to treat industrial wastewaters, and judicious decision making is required for selecting appropriate technologies. The selection depends on the desired goals of wastewater treatment: recovery of valuable chemicals from wastewater, possible water recycling and reuse, complying with the statuary norms for discharge into water bodies, and economics of the treatment process.