Abstract

Batch Electrochemical Coagulation (BECC) of Domestic Wastewater and Grey water for the Removal of COD and TDS

Author(s): Megha Subramanya

Rapid urbanization has increased the problem of the discharge of untreated wastewater into the environment and is a major concern worldwide. Since wastewaters contain toxic pollutants and contaminants which pollute the receiving water bodies, the removal of such pollutants and contaminants from wastewaters has recently become the subject of considerable interest to control the deviating effect of water pollution. Depending on the origin and composition, domestic wastewater can be subjectively segregated into grey water and black water. Grey water generally includes sources from bathtubs, showers, hand washing basins, washing machines, dishwashers and kitchen sinks which is considered as a major part of the overall household wastewater with the share of 50%-80%. Wastewater originating from the toilets (water, urine and faeces) is known as black water, containing high amount of pathogens and organic load that poses the highest risk of biggest contamination. Grey water treatment is much easier than black water because black water is severely contaminated. The composition of the grey water mainly depends on family size, lifestyle of the people, washing habits and type of the detergents used for dishwashing and washing machines. In this research work, the objective was to treat domestic wastewater and grey water for the removal of COD and TDS using batch electrochemical coagulation, using stainless steel electrode. The specific objectives focused on characterization of domestic wastewater and grey water for various physico-chemical parameters and BECC was set to arrive at the conditions for the removal of COD and TDS using stainless steel, electrodes and operating parameters such as cell voltage, current density, electrode spacing and electrolysis time; and to observe the influence of water quality parameters on electrochemical coagulation process with fish survival studies at different dilutions.