New approach of dye removal in textile effluent: A cost-effective management for cleanup of toxic dyes in textile effluent by water hyacinth

Abstract

Effluent from textile, paper, plastic, leather, and cosmetic industries are the major concern in the aspect of environmental toxicities. Many complex and aromatic dyes due to their incomplete degradation and accumulation exhibit toxic effects in aquatic life and human health. Currently, there are many dye degradation treatment plants that are being operated to reduce their toxicity but the major limitation is their cost. Therefore, in search of the most efficient and reliable method of removing pollutants, a non-conventional cost-effective biosorbent (water hyacinth) was used in this experiment. In this chapter, it is discussed about the removal of dyes from textile effluent by degrading the dyes using the cheapest method of utilizing a widely available water hyacinth plant. This plant was pretreated with phosphoric acid to increase the porosity. Three dyes (AR97, AB20, and AY19) were tested for their removal by water hyacinth. The batch adsorption experiment was carried out to determine equilibrium behavior. Effects of operating parameters like initial dye concentration, sorbent dosage, contact time, and temperature on the sorption efficiency were also studied. Adsorption isotherm models were also used to simulate the equilibrium data at different experimental parameters. Finally, it was concluded that water hyacinth exhibits maximum decolorization efficiency (nearly 99%), thus reducing the toxicity of textile dyes.