Textile Waste Waters: Treatment and Environmental Effects

The paper considers the use of water and chemicals in the textile industry and the volume, nature and composition of process effluents, the effect they have on the environment and the limitations they pose on the reuse of water. An outline is given of the methods available for treatment of waste waters from the industry, on site or at a Water Authority's works and the effects that chemical constituents of the effluents have on the treatment processes and on disposal of water and sludge. The assessment and significance of biodegradability and the extent of present‐day knowledge on the biodegradability of the main classes of chemicals used in textile processing are discussed. The paper concludes with a section dealing with the removal of colour from waste waters.