Greywater Characterization and Treatment Using Chemical Coagulation

Abstract

The main problem in treating grey water is the large variation in quality observed over short timescales. Different treatment schemes have been used such as physical, chemical and biological processes to treat this effluent. However they have some problems like adjusting shock loading of organic matters and chemicals. Therefore, in the present study chemical coagulation process was tested to treat grey water. Coagulants (alum and ferric chloride) were used in the present work to treat both real and synthetic grey water. The findings showed that at a dose of 30 mg/L of ferric chloride, 90% of the solution's turbidity and 80% of the TDS could consistently be removed. These findings were well matched with biological active filter system that reported 85% of COD removal from grey water. In addition, the effects of pH and alkalinity on the removal performance were also investigated. Overall, the present study showed that both traditional and proposed novel chemical process could treat grey water to the required level which can further be re-used for agricultural activities.