STUDIES ON THE REMOVAL OF DETERGENT FROM WASTE WATER

Abstract

Modern technology constantly produces new compounds which make their way into waste waters. The most important series of compounds from the view point of environmental pollution has been synthetic detergents. Since world war II the synthetic detergents have been blamed for many of the sewage treatment and river pollution problems, which are the production of voluminous foam, reduction in the rate of oxygenation and the persistance of detergents in sewage effluents. It has been reported in literature that detergents are nonbiodegradable and so are not removed during biological treatment. This attracted the attention of several researcher and a nurnber of removal methods have been developed. One of the methods suggested is adsorption. Activated carbon was the only adsorbent used .earlier but its phibitive cost lead to the search for other efficient, but cheap and commercially. available adsorbents. I In the present investigation "fly ash" has been used as an adsorbent. Thy; :effect of different flow rates and depth of bed of adsorbent on the removal efficiency of the detergent (Teepol) has been determined. Th