The process of leather tanning produces harmful pollutants. In order to meet regulatory standards, this study explored chemical treatment methods to successfully and efficiently reduce the concentrations of harmful pollutants in the wastewater. Multiple wastewater streams representative of various stages in the tanning and wastewater treatment processes were initially characterized and subsequently treated through means of chemical coagulation and adsorption. Through a series of jar test experiments, use of multiple industry-grade polymers as chemical coagulants greatly reduced chromium concentrations and turbidity levels. The wastewater streams were also subjected to adsorption experiments to see chromium and nitrogen removal efficiency of metal oxide nanoparticles and activated carbon at varying concentrations over a 24hr period. Though poor adsorption of chromium occurred by both the nanoparticles and activated carbon, the activated carbon was successful in reducing nitrogen levels by over 90%. Having tested different methods for wastewater treatment, the use of polymers as coagulants was deemed the most successful at removal of chromium and improvement in clarity.

Chemical treatment of wastewater from a leather tanning facility

245th National Meeting (2013)

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