Effect of Vermifiltration on COD and Color Removal from Textile Factories’ Waste Water

Aims Textile industries are among the manufactures which produce the highly pollutedwaste water. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effect of vermifiltration onCOD and color removal from textile waste water.Materials & Methods This experimental research was performed March to August 2014 inone of the textile factories of Kashan region, Iran. The glass cubic kits with- without Eiseniafetida were used to filter the waste water samples. Data was analyzed using Kruskal–Wallisand two-way analysis of variance in SPSS 19 statistical software.Findings The mean of COD concentration in the raw waste water samples was1324.24±757.01mg/l which was decreased to 598.22±349.33 and 831.32±445.19mg/l afterthe experimental and control kits usage, respectively (p<0.001). The mean of color intensityin raw waste water samples was 51.2±30.6% which was decreased to 27.8±15.0 and27.4±15.1% (p=0.635) in experimental and control kits, respectively. There was a significantnegative correlation between COD removal and hydraulic loads (p<0.001; r=-0.804) and asignificant negative correlation between color removal and hydraulic loads (p<0.001; r=-0.278) in both experimental and control kits.Conclusion The most important risk groups in our study were abattoir workers, butchers,housewives and students who handle infected animals.

Keywords:

Textile Industry , Waste Water , Oligochaeta , Color , Vermifiltration