Water treatment for industry

Summary: A huge amount of waste water is a part of industrial bye products. Water treatment for industry provides a method for decontamination of water so that they can be re-used.

The huge amount of waste water that is generated by the multiple industries present is increasing day by day. Water treatment for industry includes the mechanisms that are used to treat water that are contaminated from the industrial activities before releasing it to the environment. Due to the negative impact of this industrial waste water many technologies have been developed to minimize the production of waste water or recycle the waste before discarding them. The sources of the industrial waste water is mainly the iron and steel industry which make use of a many harmful chemicals such as phenols, cyanide and cresols which can contaminate water and thus cause harmful effects to the living population. The food industry also releases water which has excess organic content which increases the Biological Oxygen Demand of the soil and thus makes it difficult for the biodegradation of such soil. The chemical and the organic industry also use complex chemicals such as pesticides and detergent which also contribute to waste water. Water treatment for industry makes use of several strategies to decontaminate the waste water.

These strategies include:

• Brine treatment which removes dissolved salts and ions from the waste water stream. Hardness factor and other harmful metals are also removed with the help of specific processes and instruments.
• Oil and gas removal strategies involve the use of skimming devices. Skimmers are cost effective and a cheap way to remove oils and greases from the water.
• The removal of biodegradable organic matter of plant or animal origin can be done with a process called the activated sludge process. This technique of water treatment for industry makes use of oxygen and micro-organisms to biologically degrade water and organic pollutants.
• Acids and alkalis are neutralized under specific conditions as well. Toxic materials such as arsenic and cadmium are removed by treatment with other chemicals.