Evaluation of an electrocoagulation–bioball biofilter system for industrial laundry wastewater treatment

Abstract

Background: Laundry wastewater contains a range of hazardous substances, including phosphates, surfactants, BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand), COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand), and TSS (To-tal Suspended Solids), which can pollute the environment. Thus, effective laundry wastewater management is crucial to reducing negative impacts on water quality and aquatic ecosystems. Objective: We aimed to analyse the effectiveness of small-scale laundry wastewater treatment using electrocoagulation technology combined with a bioball media biofilter. Methods: A quantitative experiment with a one-group pretest-posttest design was used. The tests were conducted on three reactors: Electrocoagulation, a bioball biofilter, and a combination of both, with measurements of physical and chemical wastewater parameters, namely TSS, BOD, COD, and phosphate. Results: The results showed that the combination of electrocoagulation and bioball biofilter technology produced a significant reduction in all parameters: TSS (82.5%), BOD (83.91%), COD (82.27%), and phosphate (97.27%) after 12 hours of treatment. The ANOVA test showed significant differences in TSS (P = 0.000) and BOD (P = 0.036), but not in COD (P = 0.290) or phosphate (P = 0.619). Conclusion: The combination of electrocoagulation and bioball biofilters is highly effective for treating laundry wastewater, achieving significant reductions in TSS, BOD, COD, and phosphate levels and meeting stricter wastewater quality standards.

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