Color removal of real textile wastewater by sequential anaerobic and aerobic reactors

Abstract

Textile wastewater from the Pusan Dyeing Industrial Complex (PDIC) was treated utilizing a two-stage continuous system, composed of an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor and an activated sludge reactor. The effects of color and organic loading rates were studied by varying the hydraulic retention time and influent glucose concentration. The maximum color load to satisfy the legal discharge limit of color intensity in Korea (400 ADMI, unit of the American Dye Manufacturers Institute) was estimated to be 2,700 ADMI(.)L(-1) day(-1). This study indicates that the two-stage anaerobic/aerobic reaction system is potentially useful in the treatment of textile wastewater.