Industrial (Brewery) and Municipal Wastewater Production and Treatment: A Review Paper

Freshwater shortage and pollution-induced by human activities have become a global concern.Water resources pollution particularly by the brewing industries is a major concern due to production of large volume of wastewater resulting from large volume of water used in the production processes of beer.African countries consume much volume of water higher than the accepted international benchmark of 6.5 hectoliter water/hectoliter beer production.Observed about 60% of freshwater used in Zambian breweries in the brewing of beer and finishing operations.The industries are observed to generate large volume of wastewater and discharge it partially treated or untreated to the environment resulting to degradation of ecosystem and outbreak of cholera and typhoid.Zambia being a developing country is facing challenges in wastewater management.The treatment plants produce large volume of sludge and are overfilled due to poor maintenance and operation.The wastewater treatment facilities with conventional treatment systems are hydraulically overloaded with effluent quality of COD at an average of 817 mg/L, BOD 148 mg/L, turbidity 58.4NTU which were observed to be above the allowable limits for Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA) at 90mg/L, 50 mg/L, and 15 NTU respectively.The waste stabilization ponds (WSPs) effectively removed the BOD to an average of 32.5 mg/L within the set limits and a poor effluent quality of turbidity (86.3 NTU) and COD (143 mg/L) above the set limits.Therefore, further treatment of the effluent is to be proposed for the treatment of the high concentrated water effluent from the treatment plants.This review aims at stating the current situation of industrial (brewery industries) and domestic or municipal wastewater in Zambia, as well as its environmental impacts, methods for treatment and the solution to the provision of the required effluent quality for discharge to the environment without causing pollution to water sources and aquatic life.