Removal of phosphorous from laundry wastewater using electrocoagulation with aluminum electrodes as a local treatment system

This study aims to investigate potential of using Electrocoagulation (EC) process with aluminum electrodes, as a local treatment system, in removal of phosphorous from laundry wastewater. Effects of voltage, hydraulic retention time (HRT) and number of aluminum plates between anode and cathode plates on removal efficiency are investigated. Experimental results showed that by increasing HRT removal efficiency increases but after 45 min, changes are negligible. Therefore, the total HRT required is only 45 min. The more HRT, the more electrical current is needed in order to achieving constant voltage and temperature in system. In addition, it is found that pH value increases from 9.7 to 11.6. After treatment, the phosphorous concentration was reduced from 83.33%. Results of this study demonstrate that increase in pH with time is considerable. Furthermore, increasing number of aluminum plates between anode and cathode plates in bipolar system significantly affects phosphorous removal and increases removal efficiency from 82% to 97%.

Keywords:

Electrocoagulation , Phosphorous Removal , Laundry Wastewater , Local Treatment