Reuse of Salt-Containing Dyeing
Effluents by Means of an Electrochemical
and Ultraviolet Coupled System
Carmen Gutiérrez-Bouzán, Valentina Buscio, and José-Antonio Tornero
Abstract The textile dyeing produces a large volume of wastewater with high
salinity and deep colouration. Residual dyes are generally not removed in conventional wastewater treatments, and therefore, specific treatments are required to
remove colour. Sometimes, textile mills are not able to accomplish water discharge
regulations as salts cannot be removed in the common wastewater treatments. To face
both problems, salinity and colour of effluents, a new system has been designed based
on a coupled electrochemical and UV process (EC-UV). It is a fast and simple treatment that enables the effluents colour removal. In addition, the wastewater salinity can
also be reduced through the reuse of the treated effluents in new productive processes.
The treatment is particularly efficient in the reactive dyeing process, although it can
also be used for effluents of direct dyes. The implementation of this new system in the
textile industry achieves significant benefits. The reuse of effluents containing high
amount of salts implies lower consumption of water and salt in the dyeing process,
and the removal of colour improves the yield of wastewater treatment plants with
less consumption of chemicals. Finally, the reduction of wastewater salinity is also
an additional economic and environmental benefit of the treatment, which results in
lower wastewater taxes and improvement of the aquatic ecosystems.
Keywords Wastewater · Coloured effluents · Exhausted dyebaths ·
Decolourisation · Colour removal · Reactive dyes · Saline effluents · Water reuse ·
Electrochemical treatment · Coupled electrochemical–ultraviolet process
C. Gutiérrez-Bouzán (B) · V. Buscio · J.-A. Tornero
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)-INTEXTER (Textile Research Institute of Terrassa),
Carrer Colom 15, 08222 Terrassa, Spain
e-mail: m.carmen.gutierrez@upc.edu
V. Buscio
e-mail: valentina.buscio-olivera@upc.edu
J.-A. Tornero
e-mail: jose.antonio.tornero@upc.edu
© 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_1
1
Effluents by Means of an Electrochemical
and Ultraviolet Coupled System
Carmen Gutiérrez-Bouzán, Valentina Buscio, and José-Antonio Tornero
Abstract The textile dyeing produces a large volume of wastewater with high
salinity and deep colouration. Residual dyes are generally not removed in conventional wastewater treatments, and therefore, specific treatments are required to
remove colour. Sometimes, textile mills are not able to accomplish water discharge
regulations as salts cannot be removed in the common wastewater treatments. To face
both problems, salinity and colour of effluents, a new system has been designed based
on a coupled electrochemical and UV process (EC-UV). It is a fast and simple treatment that enables the effluents colour removal. In addition, the wastewater salinity can
also be reduced through the reuse of the treated effluents in new productive processes.
The treatment is particularly efficient in the reactive dyeing process, although it can
also be used for effluents of direct dyes. The implementation of this new system in the
textile industry achieves significant benefits. The reuse of effluents containing high
amount of salts implies lower consumption of water and salt in the dyeing process,
and the removal of colour improves the yield of wastewater treatment plants with
less consumption of chemicals. Finally, the reduction of wastewater salinity is also
an additional economic and environmental benefit of the treatment, which results in
lower wastewater taxes and improvement of the aquatic ecosystems.
Keywords Wastewater · Coloured effluents · Exhausted dyebaths ·
Decolourisation · Colour removal · Reactive dyes · Saline effluents · Water reuse ·
Electrochemical treatment · Coupled electrochemical–ultraviolet process
C. Gutiérrez-Bouzán (B) · V. Buscio · J.-A. Tornero
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)-INTEXTER (Textile Research Institute of Terrassa),
Carrer Colom 15, 08222 Terrassa, Spain
e-mail: m.carmen.gutierrez@upc.edu
V. Buscio
e-mail: valentina.buscio-olivera@upc.edu
J.-A. Tornero
e-mail: jose.antonio.tornero@upc.edu
© 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_1
1