Performance Evaluation of a Common Effluent Treatment Plant (cetp) Treating Textile Wastewaters in India

Several small scale industries have formed cooperatives and established Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETP) to treat wastewater in India. The wastewaters are subjected to primary treatment in the industry and thereafter discharged to be further treated at the CETPs. The management and treatment costs are shared by the member industries. The CETP under study is situated in North Western part of Rajasthan in Pali district. Pali has about 989 synthetic and cotton textile printing and dyeing units. The member industries generate wastewater containing a variety of chemicals, dyes, acids, alkalis besides other toxic heavy metals. In this study, performance of a CETP of capacity 1.5 Million Gallons per day wastewater from synthetic textile mills was evaluated. Four criteria viz. design, operation, maintenance and administration was deployed to evaluate the overall performance of CETP. Design data was collected from each unit operation of the CETP and adequacy of design was assessed using a scoring method. Actual operational efficiency of the CETP was evaluated by collecting samples (16 in all) at each stage of treatment. All samples were analyzed for 16 physico-chemical parameters. Administration capability and adequacy of maintenance systems were evaluated using questionnaires and by conducting staff interviews. The overall performance of the CETP was evaluated considering all the dimensions and accordingly recommendations were made for improving the performance. Jr. of Industrial Pollution Control 24 (2) (2008) pp 111-121