A review of textile industry: Wet processing, environmental impacts, and effluent treatment methods

Abstract The word “textile” means to weave and was taken from the Latin word “texere.” Nowadays, textiles not only fulfill humankind's basic necessity for clothing, they also allow individuals to make fashion statements. As one of the oldest industries, the textile industry occupies a unique place in India. It is responsible for 14% of the total industrial manufacture in India. However, the textile industry is also considered to be one of the biggest threats to the environment. Pretreatment, dyeing, printing, and finishing operations are among the various stages of the industrial textile manufacturing process. These fabrication operations not only utilize huge quantities of power and water, they also generate considerable amounts of waste. The textile industry utilizes a number of dyes, chemicals, and other materials to impart the required qualities to the fabrics. These operations produce a significant amount of effluents. The quality of effluents is such that they cannot be put to other uses, and they can create environmental problems if they are disposed of without appropriate treatment. This review discusses different textile processing stages, pollution problems associated with these stages, and their eco‐friendly alternatives. Textile wet processing is described in detail, as it is the key process in the industry and it also generates the greatest amount of pollutants in textile processing. The environmental impact of textile effluents is discussed, as textile effluents not only impose negative effects on the quality of water and soil, they also imperil plant and animal health. In this paper, various methods for treating textile effluents are described. Discussion of physical, chemical, biological, and advanced treatment technologies of effluent treatment are included in this paper.