Comparative decolorization of dyes in textile wastewater using biological and chemical treatment

• A comparative study investigated the treatment of textile wastewater.
• The color, COD and turbidity removal was studied in anaerobic IC reactor and Fenton’s process.
• Fenton’s reagent at pH 3 was effective for color removal and IC reactor was efficient for COD removal.
• Fenton’s process without pH adjustment was better in turbidity removal.

Textile wastewater (TW) is one of the most hazardous wastewaters for the environment when discharged without any proper treatment. A comparative study was conducted to investigate the removal efficiency of color, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and turbidity from real textile industry wastewater using anaerobic IC reactor and Fenton’s process with and without pH adjustment. Color, COD and turbidity removal efficiencies have been studied for 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% textile wastewater. Results demonstrated that a maximum color removal efficiency (>92%) was recorded in Fenton’s process at pH 3 for 100% sample. However, maximum COD removal efficiency of 87% was observed in IC reactor for 100% sample. Thus, Fenton’s reagent at pH 3 was found highly effective for color removal and IC reactor observed to be efficient for COD removal. Furthermore, Fenton’s process without pH adjustment was found higher turbidity removal efficiency as compared to other treatments. Findings from this suggested that the selective treatment process could be highly promising for the decolorization of textile wastewater and can also be practically implementable.