Water Treatment for the Textile and Tanning Industry

Water treatment for the textile and tanning industry: methods and processes

Some peculiar methods and processes can contribute to the treatment of textile wastewater (subject always to a preliminary analysis to be carried out with pilot units).

• Biological treatments. Here, bacteria and other microorganisms are used to biodegrade organic matter in wastewater. The most common biological treatments are activated sludge and aerobic oxidation treatments.
• Filtration. Cloth filters, sand filters, membrane filters, or activated carbon filters-all of these technologies separate pollutant components by mechanical process, albeit with different systems and varying degrees of suspended solids removal.
• Disinfection. Used to eliminate pathogenic microorganisms from wastewater. The most common disinfection processes are those using chlorine, ozone, or UV light.

MITA Water Technologies' solutions for wastewater in the textile and tanning industry

• Mitadaf dissolved-air flotation units. It has proven to be an effective solution for the treatment of these waters, upstream of any biological and/or chemical/physical processes: this system removes about 80% of the fats and solids contained in the waters, and also performs a partial abatement on the surfactants related to them.
• Biorulli® rotating biological contactors. These biological oxidation systems have also been used in printing mills, woolen mills, felt mills, etc. especially for the biodegradation of surfactants, particularly nonionic surfactants. Small size, ease of operation and low energy use are good advantages for which they are often preferred to alternative biological purification systems.
• Free-fiber cloth filters. Although not directly used for disinfection, cloth filters are often useful upstream of reverse osmosis and UV lamp systems: in these cases, they lighten the suspended solids loads entering subsequent technologies, preventing them from inhibiting their action.