A. Rajeswari
In India, tanning is a small-scale industry. Throughout the tanning process, massive amount of wastewater is generated and in most cases it pollutes the environment. The waste materials from the tannery industry are characterized by high oxygen demand, total dissolved solids and hazardous inorganic chemical waste, etc. The design of the Effluent Treatment plant under study, involves a combination of primary, secondary and tertiary treatment processes. The relative proportion of effluent generated in different stages of tanning was found to be high in de-liming and baiting (26%) while lower in pickling (4%), which produced semi-finished leather product. The study was performed regarding the analysis of water quality parameters. Primary treatment possesses maximum values while compared to the final stage such as tertiary treatment. The pH ranged from 10 to 6.6; temperature from 27.6 to 28.3°C; TSS from 1582 to 26.3 mg/L; TDS from 2558 to 2500 mg/L; chlorides from 1476 to 1407 mg/L; oil & grease from 65.8 to nil mg/L; COD from 1819 to 157 mg/L and BOD from 810 to 55 mg/L respectively. Therefore a critical study on the nature of industrial wastes, treatment processes and it is essential features was assessed to maintain a sustainable environment.
