Treatment of Textile Effluent Using Fly Ash as Adsorbent-A Case Study for Tirupur Region

This paper aims to provide a solution to the prevailing environmental problems due to wastewater from textile industries and dumping of fly ash by the thermal power plants in India. This work is an attempt to find out a solution through low cost treatment methodology. In this study, fly ash, which is produced as waste from the thermal power plant, was used as an adsorbent for the wastewater from textile processing industries particularly in Tirupur region of Tamilnadu. This is an attempt to make use of fly ash as a material to reduce the pollutant concentration in the textile industries wastewater. Column technique has been adopted in this study for adsorption. The fly ash used in this experimental study was collected from the Mettur Thermal Power Plant. The fly ash was used as an adsorbent by packing it in PVC column in different layers with alternative layers of sand in between them. The dyeing effluent was allowed to flow through it from the top with suitable arrangements. The dye stuffs were found to get adsorbed on the fly ash layer. The fly ash was separated and dried later.