Removal of COD and turbidity to improve wastewater quality using electrocoagulant technique

Abstract

Electrocoagulation (EC) is becoming a popular process to be used for wastewater treatment. The removal of COD and turbidity from wastewater by EC using iron (Fe) electrode material was investigated in this paper. Several working parameters, such as pH, current density, and operating time were studied in an attempt to achieve a higher removal capacity. Wastewater sample was made from milk powder with initial COD of 1140 mgL-1 and turbidity of 491 NTU. Current density was varied from 3.51 to 5.62 mA cm-2, and operating time of between 30 and 50 minutes. The results show that the effluent wastewater was very clear and its quality exceeded the direct discharge standard. The removal efficiencies of COD and turbidity were high, being more than 65 % and 95 %. In addition, the experimental results also show that the electrocoagu lation can neutralize pH of wastewater.