Sustainable Operation of Textile Wastewater Using Calcium Hypochlorite Oxidation Followed by Waste Iron Slag-Aided Micro-filtration

Bangladesh's primary source of foreign exchange earnings is the textile sector, employing over three million women. The industry’s unexpected growth has led to adverse repercussions on the environment, shown by the release of untreated textile wastewater into aquatic bodies. Compliance concerns emerge due to the exorbitant expenses associated with treatment, which result from the utilization of expensive imported chemicals and reliance on energy-intensive equipment. A series of technology development projects were conducted at the bench and field scale to find an environmentally friendly approach for treating textile effluent utilizing materials and chemicals that are readily available in the local supply chain. The process involved chemical oxidation using calcium hypochlorite followed by waste blast furnace iron slag- aided micro-filtration. Complete removal of color, reduction in Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), and Total Suspended Solids (TSS) were achieved, producing waster in compliance with the discharge limits for both as a pretreatment option and as final polishing post-tertiary treatment. The developed process, reliant on locally available resources, has the potential to serve as a sustainable textile wastewater treatment option for resource-challenged Bangladesh and other resource-limited economies in South Asia. Implementing the developed process may help achieve Sustainable Development Goals.