Potential of Food Processing Wastewater Treatment for Reuse

THIS study aimed to investigate the most effective treatment technique for the wastewater generated from food processing factory to be reused according to Egyptian standards. The discharged wastewater was highly polluted by organic load. As presented by average chemical oxygen demands (COD) value of 4950 mgO(2)L(-1). Four treatment scenarios were investigated to select the most appropriate module for reuse of wastewater. Chemical coagulation-flocculation followed by adsorption onto granular activated carbon (GAC) achieved 84% of COD removal. The Fenton oxidation followed by adsorption onto GAC achieved COD removal of 91%.The Aerobic treatment followed by adsorption onto GAC reached to 92% COD removals. The quality of treated effluent using the previous modules was far less than the required values stated in Egyptian code for reuse in agriculture (Grade A). Integration of the studied different treatment modules in the form of sedimentation then chemical coagulation-flocculation followed by aerobic treatment then sandwich filter using adsorption/filtration (Sand/GAC/Sand) produced water quality complying with the Egyptian code for reuse in agriculture with COD removal of 99.8%.