Treatment of Textile Waste Water Using
Low-Cost and Innovative Materials
K. Amutha
Abstract Clothing is a basic necessity of human but the industries that produce
clothing pose a serious environmental pollution in many ways. One such problem
is the effluents from the wet processing of textile materials. The complex nature
of textile effluent makes the recycling process challenging and also expensive. The
extensive use of water for the wet processing of textiles and the scarcity of water
resources demand efficient and cost-effective methods for the treatment of textile
effluent. Agro-residual and plant materials were effectively used by researchers to
develop low-cost effluent treatment. Also, some species of microbes could be used
effectively for effluent treatment. Activated carbon is another low-cost adsorbent
used effectively for textile effluent treatment. This chapter explores the low-cost and
innovative materials that could be used for the treatment of textile waste water.
Keywords Textile effluent · Nanotechnology · Treatment methods · Biosorption ·
Bioremediation
1 Introduction
The term ‘textile’ sounds colourful and fascinating. Dyes and pigments are used
by mankind for colouration of food, textiles, pottery, paper, etc. The colour imparts
aesthetic property to the textiles. Until the industrial revolution by 1850 in Europe,
natural dyes were extensively used for colouration. And also the difficulties and
disadvantages with the natural dyes paved way to the growth of synthetic dyes by
1900. Since then synthetic dyes rule the dye industry market worldwide. Some of
these dyes are associated with health hazards of human and aquatic life, ranging from
mild to acute or chronic.
The textile industrial chain is characterized by large and complex structure.
Broadly, the manufacturing processes could be categorized as dry (spinning, knitting,
weaving, and garment production) and wet (sizing, desizing, scouring, bleaching,
K. Amutha (B)
Department of Textiles and Apparel Design, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India
e-mail: amuthatad@buc.edu.in
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
S. S. Muthu (ed.), Advances in Textile Waste Water Treatments,
Sustainable Textiles: Production, Processing, Manufacturing & Chemistry,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-0065-4_5
135
Low-Cost and Innovative Materials
K. Amutha
Abstract Clothing is a basic necessity of human but the industries that produce
clothing pose a serious environmental pollution in many ways. One such problem
is the effluents from the wet processing of textile materials. The complex nature
of textile effluent makes the recycling process challenging and also expensive. The
extensive use of water for the wet processing of textiles and the scarcity of water
resources demand efficient and cost-effective methods for the treatment of textile
effluent. Agro-residual and plant materials were effectively used by researchers to
develop low-cost effluent treatment. Also, some species of microbes could be used
effectively for effluent treatment. Activated carbon is another low-cost adsorbent
used effectively for textile effluent treatment. This chapter explores the low-cost and
innovative materials that could be used for the treatment of textile waste water.
Keywords Textile effluent · Nanotechnology · Treatment methods · Biosorption ·
Bioremediation
1 Introduction
The term ‘textile’ sounds colourful and fascinating. Dyes and pigments are used
by mankind for colouration of food, textiles, pottery, paper, etc. The colour imparts
aesthetic property to the textiles. Until the industrial revolution by 1850 in Europe,
natural dyes were extensively used for colouration. And also the difficulties and
disadvantages with the natural dyes paved way to the growth of synthetic dyes by
1900. Since then synthetic dyes rule the dye industry market worldwide. Some of
these dyes are associated with health hazards of human and aquatic life, ranging from
mild to acute or chronic.
The textile industrial chain is characterized by large and complex structure.
Broadly, the manufacturing processes could be categorized as dry (spinning, knitting,
weaving, and garment production) and wet (sizing, desizing, scouring, bleaching,
K. Amutha (B)
Department of Textiles and Apparel Design, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India
e-mail: amuthatad@buc.edu.in
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
S. S. Muthu (ed.), Advances in Textile Waste Water Treatments,
Sustainable Textiles: Production, Processing, Manufacturing & Chemistry,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-0065-4_5
135