Affiliations: University of Zagreb, Faculty of Textile Technology,
Department for Textile Technology and Ecology, Prilaz baruna Filipovica 30,
Zagreb, Croatia | Limnos, Company for Applied Ecology, Podlimbarskega
31, Ljubljana, Slovenija
Abstract: Textile finishing processes produce waste waters burdened by high
amounts of dyestuff, which has not been chemically bonded to the fiber in the
process of fixation. Also, a great threat to the inlet water ways and the
environment itself are high quantities of salt (e.g. NaCl or
Na_2SO_4), used in the processes of
cotton dyeing. Although, recently more and more new physical and chemical
purifying methods are being developed, with the emphasis on membrane processes,
this paper revises an alternative solution to the problem, which is adapting
and constructing a purifying system similar to the processes which have been
occurring in the nature forever. Efficiency of such constructed wetland will depend on selection and
mass relation of natural adsorbents, which should correlate to the natural
geological profiles. In this paper wetland was optimized within laboratory
investigations and then used as an only method employed in order to purify
dye-house wastewater. Optimized combination of purifying media along with
Phragmites Australis achieved reduction of measured biological parameters (COD,
BOD_5, TOC, AOX, el. conductivity, pH,
NH_4^+, NO_3^-, NO_2^-, total P and
the amount of Cl^- ions). In order to significantly reduce SAC values,
another purifying method (e.g. chemical) should be employed.
Keywords: Constructed wetland, waste water treatment, biological parameters, dye house waste waters
