Green Iron Integrated Electrokinetics for the Remediation of Textile Wastewater Contaminated Soil

The environmental pollution due to textile industries in developing countries emphasizes the need for environmental protection and restoration. It is mandatory to identify an economic and sustainable remediation technique for the textile wastewater-contaminated soil. Several integrated protocols of electrokinetics with bare and green iron were investigated in this study. Out of all, green iron injection into the cathode reservoir after the electrokinetics experiment was found efficient. This green iron integrated electrokinetics removed ۸۳% of Total Organic Carbon (TOC) and ۸۰% of Electrical Conductivity (EC) from the soil and further treated collected residual textile dyes using green iron in the cathode reservoir. The potential of this green iron integrated electrokinetics was found efficient in the separation of organic contaminants from the soil through electrokinetics and the reduction of organic contaminants using green iron. The Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) of the catholyte was reduced to ۲۱۲ mg/L which is within the acceptable limits (۲۵۰ mg/L) for discharge as per Indian standards. The major reactions and mechanisms involved in the remediation of textile wastewater-contaminated soil using iron-integrated electrokinetics were discussed. The cost estimated for the proposed integrated electrokinetics is ۲۸ /m۳ however the existing electrokinetics remediation technology requires ۹۰-۲۷۵ to treat ۱ m۳ of soil. Thus, the proposed remediation technique is found efficient, economical, and eco-friendly compared to the existing technologies.

Keywords:

Soil remediation , integrated electrokinetics , green iron , textile wastewater contamination