The Role of Electrocoagulation and Complementary Flocculation in Reducing the COD of Wastewater Detergents for Irrigation Use

Detergents are the main organic pollutants in the industrial and domestic wastewater. Electro-chemistry methods are advanced purification methods developed with high efficiency features. The goal of this study was to investigate the possibility of using electrocoagulation and the complementary flocculation process to achieve the highest removal efficiency of the detergent COD. So, with iron electrode, synthetic samples at the concentrations of 500, 750 and 1000 mg/l (with COD of 217, 268 and 370 mg/l, respectively) and with the initial pH levels of 5, 7.3 and 9 were tested. Variable parameters during the electrocoagulation process included the current duration at 3, 5 and 10 minutes, and the current density was at 4, 10, 16 and 22 mA/cm2. The primary results showed that in the optimum conditions, the coagulation process and complementary flocculation could reduce the sample’s COD with an initial concentration of detergent (500 mg/l) from 217 mgO2/l to 81.30 mgO2/l. The electrocoagulation method could reduce the chemical oxygen demand to below the standard limit of environmental discharge (200 mgO2/l) and compensate for the possibility of the irrigation of green spaces due to water shortages.