Effective Wastewater Treatment Plant for an Integrated Textile Industry in India
Introduction:
The Integrated Textile Industry is a leading cloth manufacturing company that involves denim production, cotton apparel manufacturing, and is also involved in the pulping of raw materials and paper manufacturing. With a strong commitment to environmental sustainability, the Integrated Textile Industry operates a waste water treatment plant (WWTP) at its textile manufacturing facility to treat the industrial effluent generated during its textile production processes.
However, the industry faced challenges in meeting the effluent discharge limits for certain pollutants, including the presence of components from reactive dyes, high chemical oxygen demand (COD), elevated biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), higher levels of color, and effluent temperature reaching up to 50°C. To address these challenges, the industry implemented a bioaugmentation program at its effluent treatment plant (ETP), which resulted in significant improvements in the wastewater treatment process and compliance with regulatory standards for industrial effluents.
Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) Details:
The industry had primary treatment, biological treatment, and then a tertiary treatment.
| Flow | 500-600 KLD |
| Type of process | MBBR |
| No. of aeration tanks | 2 (in parallel) |
| Capacity of aeration tanks | 650 KL each |
| Total RT | hours |
Challenges:
| Parameters | Inlet parameters | Outlet parameters (Secondary System) | ||
| COD | 13,000 to 10000 | 8500 to 6800 | ||
| BOD | 4000 to 2500 | 2800 to 1650 | ||
| Colour | 750 to 900 Hazen | 560 to 700 Hazen | ||
- The primary treatment system was working at 20-30% efficiency in terms of COD reduction.
- The biological treatment was working at an average of 10-15% efficiency combined in terms of COD removal.
- The system was struggling to effectively treat pollutants originating from reactive dyes and to reduce color contamination in the textile effluent.
- The mixed liquor suspended solids (MLSS) were very low, and the microbial population in the biological treatment tanks could not develop due to the high wastewater temperature of 50°C.
- The conventional MBBR waste water treatment plant was not efficient enough to consistently meet the stringent effluent discharge standards set by local environmental regulatory agencies.
As a result, the textile manufacturing company faced the risk of non-compliance, which could lead to regulatory fines, reputational damage, and environmental pollution.
The Bioaugmentation Approach:
The Integrated Textile Industry partnered with us to enhance the efficiency of their biological units. They had two aeration tanks in parallel, equipped with diffusers, handling a daily wastewater flow of 500-600 KLD.
Bioaugmentation is a biological wastewater treatment technique that involves adding specifically selected microorganisms, such as bacteria and enzymes, to improve the biological degradation of pollutants in a waste water treatment plant. The team conducted a comprehensive wastewater assessment to analyze the industrial effluent characteristics and the WWTP’s operational parameters, identifying the best bioaugmentation strategy for this textile effluent treatment plant.
Based on the assessment, a customized bioaugmentation program was designed and implemented. The microbial cultures were carefully selected to target organic pollutants, particularly contaminants from reactive dyes in the industrial effluent stream. Thermophilic bacteria were introduced to withstand high-temperature wastewater conditions and enhance the biological treatment process.
The bioaugmentation process was seamlessly integrated into the existing wastewater treatment process, and the performance of the WWTP was monitored over the next three months.
Improved Effluent Quality After Bioaugmentation:
|
Parameters |
Inlet Parameters (ppm) |
Outlet Parameters (After Bioaugmentation) (ppm) |
|---|---|---|
| COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand) | 13,000 to 10,000 | 2,500 to 1,800 |
| BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand) | 4,000 to 2,500 | 800 to 650 |
| Color (Hazen Units) | 750 to 900 | 150 to 300 |
Results and Benefits of Bioaugmentation in Wastewater Treatment:
The implementation of the bioaugmentation program resulted in significant improvements in the performance of biological units at the wastewater treatment plant:
✅ Achieved around 80-84% reduction in COD & BOD levels in the treated industrial effluent.
✅ Attained 80-85% color removal efficiency, demonstrating visible improvement in effluent clarity.
✅ Enhanced microbial population growth in biological tanks, even at higher wastewater temperatures.
✅ The biological treatment system became more stable, reducing process fluctuations caused by influents variability.
✅ Increased plant reliability, ensuring consistent compliance with regulatory discharge limits.
✅ Reduced operational costs through optimized biological treatment efficiency.
The successful bioaugmentation application has helped the Integrated Textile Industry maintain regulatory compliance, improve wastewater treatment plant performance, and support their commitment to sustainable textile manufacturing.
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