Because of the complexity of the chemical mixtures in wastewater, conventional
wastewater treatment is not always enough to eradicate the entire contaminant load.
Ozonation and chlorination are important disinfection steps that have been
introduced to control human pathogens. These highly developed treatments are
very efficient at eliminating many chemicals and unwanted pathogens (Escher
et al. 2011). The photocatalytic process which consists of semiconductors is a
popular method to treat waste water from industries and is being widely researched
nowadays. It is a low-cost, environment friendly, and sustainable technology to align
with the “zero” waste scheme in the waste water industry (Chong et al. 2010). This
advanced oxidation technology was used to remove microorganisms, persistent
organic compounds, and arsenic metal ions in water. At present, the major technical
barriers that obstruct its commercialization remained on the post-recovery of the
catalyst particles after water treatment.
Adsorption is one of the most effective advanced waste water treatment
technologies, which is widely used by industry and academic researchers for
removal of various pollutants. Activated carbon is the most widely examined
adsorbent by researchers in water treatment process (Reddy et al. 2012). Nowadays,
the term “adsorption” became more popular as “biosorption” due to the use of
biomaterials as adsorbents for contaminated water treatment. Conversely, this has
not been usually working in industries for waste water treatment. Moreover, the
practice of magnetic adsorbent technology for the separation of water pollutants has
received substantial attention in recent years. Immense efforts have been dedicated
to the preparation of variety of magnetic adsorbents for waste water treatment. They
Fig. 1.6 Waste water treatment plant in Agra, India. (Image courtesy of CEEW, image
downloaded from https://www.thethirdpole.net/en/2017/05/15/rethinking-wastewater-manage
ment-in-india/ on 13 December, 2019)
1 Environmental Pollution, Its Causes and Impact on Ecosystem
13
wastewater treatment is not always enough to eradicate the entire contaminant load.
Ozonation and chlorination are important disinfection steps that have been
introduced to control human pathogens. These highly developed treatments are
very efficient at eliminating many chemicals and unwanted pathogens (Escher
et al. 2011). The photocatalytic process which consists of semiconductors is a
popular method to treat waste water from industries and is being widely researched
nowadays. It is a low-cost, environment friendly, and sustainable technology to align
with the “zero” waste scheme in the waste water industry (Chong et al. 2010). This
advanced oxidation technology was used to remove microorganisms, persistent
organic compounds, and arsenic metal ions in water. At present, the major technical
barriers that obstruct its commercialization remained on the post-recovery of the
catalyst particles after water treatment.
Adsorption is one of the most effective advanced waste water treatment
technologies, which is widely used by industry and academic researchers for
removal of various pollutants. Activated carbon is the most widely examined
adsorbent by researchers in water treatment process (Reddy et al. 2012). Nowadays,
the term “adsorption” became more popular as “biosorption” due to the use of
biomaterials as adsorbents for contaminated water treatment. Conversely, this has
not been usually working in industries for waste water treatment. Moreover, the
practice of magnetic adsorbent technology for the separation of water pollutants has
received substantial attention in recent years. Immense efforts have been dedicated
to the preparation of variety of magnetic adsorbents for waste water treatment. They
Fig. 1.6 Waste water treatment plant in Agra, India. (Image courtesy of CEEW, image
downloaded from https://www.thethirdpole.net/en/2017/05/15/rethinking-wastewater-manage
ment-in-india/ on 13 December, 2019)
1 Environmental Pollution, Its Causes and Impact on Ecosystem
13