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A COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF EFFLUENT CHARACTERISTICSOF TRAVANCORE TITANIUM PRODUCTS LIMITED ANDHINDUSTAN LIFECARE LIMITED, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Smitha Asok, V*. and Howlath, R.P G Department of Environmental Sciences, All Saints’ College, Thiruvananthapuram,*Email: smithaasok@gmail.com

Abstract: The analysis of industrial effluent is required for two primary purposes - environmental monitoringand monitoring of the industrial processes involved. The present study aims to undertake a comparative analysison the extent of pollution in the effluent characteristics of two major industries in Thiruvananthapuram viz.Travancore Titanium Products Limited and Hindustan Latex Limited by studying the physico-chemical parameters.The result of the analysis reveals that although the effluent of HLL is conforming to the standards set by PCB, theeffluent of TTPL shows wide variations. Based on the result, adoption of proper environmental managementmeasures for pollution control and effluent treatment in TTPL is strongly suggested as the effluent characteristicsrevealed are highly detrimental to both the biotic and abiotic constituents of the receiving ecosystem.Key words: Industrial effluent, Water pollution, Physico-chemical analysis, Effluent standards.

Received on: 10 October 2013, accepted on: 12 December 2013

INTRODUCTION

Environment pollution is an emerging threatand of great concern today. Among the variousfacets of environmental pollution, thepredicament due to water pollution is one ofthe greatest concerns. In recent years,considerable attention has been paid toindustrial wastes discharged to land andsurface water. The nature of constituents in anyeff luents is determined by the raw materialsused, the type of process employed and theeff iciency with which materials are removedf rom the eff luent either through recoveryprocesses or eff luent treatment. Industrialeff luents which are mainly disposed onto thenearest surface water resources pose seriousthreat to the inhabitants of the area and theyalso have far reaching effects on the biota aswell as the ecosystem.

The present study aims to undertake acomparative study on the extent of pollution inthe eff luent characteristics of the two majorindustries in the district of Thiruvananthapuramviz. Travancore Titanium Products Limited andHindustan Latex Limited by studying thephysico-chemical parameters. An attempt hasalso been made to assess whether the physico-chemical parameters are falling within theprescribed limits for eff luent dischargestandards as set by the Kerala State Pollution

Control Board. Such an assessment wouldeventually lead to tackle the pollution issue inthe hydrological realms of the effluent dischargepoints from an ecological and social point ofview thereby creating a safer and healthierenvironment.

Travancore Titanium Products Limited is theleading manufacturer of anatase grade titaniumdioxide in India whereas Hindustan latex limitedis an Indian health care products manufacturingcompany both of which are based inThiruvananthapuram, Kerala. The former isfound to have little or no material recovery orwaste water (eff luent) treatment facilities andit dumps huge quantities of toxic and pollutingmatter on the marine coastal belt near Veli inThiruvananthapuram. Hindustan Life careLimited has its own water treatment plant whichtreat latex water, waste water, slurry water andcanteen eff luent.

By and large, very few studies have been initiatedwith regard to estimation of eff luentcharacteristics and treatment of latex effluents.Thongnue and Puetpaiboon (2004) studied thenitrogen removal f rom concentrated latexwastewater by land treatment system to treat andutilize nitrogen in treated wastewater from theconcentrated latex factory.

Journal of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries Vol. 2/2014/ pp. 728 to 732

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METHODOLOGY

With the objective of assessing the eff luentcharacteristics of the two industries, TTPL andHLL, samples were collected f rom eff luentdischarge sites of these industries and analysed.The collected samples were analysed for eightphysico-chemical parameters viz. pH,Suspended Solids, Total Dissolved Solids, COD,BOD, Oil and grease, Ammoniacal nitrogen andKjeldahl nitrogen using the methodology asgiven in the Bureau of Indian Standards, (BIS,2009). The various parameters analysed and themethodology employed is given in Table 1.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Samples were collected monthly from the TTPLdischarge site for three consecutive months andanalysed. The averages of the three monthlyvalues were generated for the comparison study.Additionally samples of the f inal effluent fromthe ETP of HLL was also collected and analysed.The results obtained were compared with thestandards as prescribed by the Kerala StatePollution Control Board (1974) for the dischargeof treated effluents into the surface waters. Theresults of the said analyses and the standardvalues are given in Table 2.

The variation in different physico-chemicalparameters such as pH, suspended solids, TDS,COD, BOD, oil & grease, ammoniacal N2 andKjeldahl N2, among the industrial eff luent

samples of TTPL and HLL are compared anddiscussed in detail in the following sections. Alsoan assessment as to whether these values arewithin the range of maximum permissible limitsas prescribed by the KSPCB is also carried out.

pH

pH is the concentration of hydrogen ions in anaqueous solution. It is used to measure theconcentration of hydrogen ions in a solution todetermine acidity. The result of the study asshown in Fig. 1 depicts the variation of pH valuein the effluent of TTPL and HLL. It shows a widevariation. The pH of TTPL effluent is 1.64 andHLL is 7.1. Thus the effluent of TTPL is acidic innature where as eff luent of HLL is alkaline innature. The standard pH value ranges from 6 to8. From the graph, it can be seen that althoughthe pH value of HLL effluent is well within thestandards, the pH of TTPL effluent shows veryhigh deviation from the prescribed limits.

Suspended Solids

It refers to the small solid particles which remainin suspension in water as a colloid or due to themotion of the water. Fig. 1 shows the widevariation of suspended solids in the effluent ofTTPL and HLL. The suspended solids of TTPLis2886, whereas the suspended solid content ofHLL is 65. The standard for suspended soilds asset by the PCB is 100. It can be seen that theeffluent from HLL is well within the maximum

Table 1. Parameters analysed and the methodology employed

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Fig. 1. Variation of various physico-chemical parameters in the effluent samples of HLL and TTPLcompared with the standards

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permissible limits whereas the eff luent fromTTPL is highly exceeding the standard value .

Total Dissolved Solids

Total Dissolved Solids is a measure of thecombined content of all inorganic and organicsubstances contained in a liquid in molecular,ionized or micro-granular suspended form. It isused as an aesthetic characteristics of drinkingwater. The graphical representation (Fig. 1) givesthe TDS value of TTPL and HLL. The TDS valueof HLL is 46 and TTPL is 19105.33. Although theHLL eff luent is seen conforming to thestandards prescribed by PCB, the TTPL effluentis showing very high variation f rom thestandards.

Chemical Oxygen Demand

The chemical oxygen demand (COD) determinesthe amount of oxygen required for chemicaloxidation of organic matter using a strongchemical oxidant, such as, potassium dichromateunder reflux conditions. The graph (Fig. 1) showsthat the COD value of TTPL is greater than thatof HLL. The COD of TTPL eff luent sample is202.6667 where as COD of HLL sample is 80. Thestandard value of COD is 250. Thus both the TTPLand HLL effluents have COD values within theset standard value [250 ppm].

Biochemical Oxygen Demand

BOD is the amount of dissolved oxygen neededby aerobic biological organisms in a body ofwater to break down organic material presentin a given water sample at certain temperatureover a specif ic time period. It is widely used as

an indication of the organic quality of water. Thegraph (Fig. 1) shows the variation of BOD valuein the samples. The effluent sample from HLLcontained 7 ppm of BOD whereas TTPL samplehad no BOD at all. The standard prescribed byPCB for BOD is 30 ppm. The effluent from TTPLbeing highly acidic, as evident from the pH,naturally has very low BOD. Thus both HLL andTTPL have BOD values conforming to the setstandards [100].

Oil and grease

Oil is any neutral, non polar, chemicalsubstance that is viscous liquid at ambienttemperatures and is immiscible with water butsoluble in alcohols or ethers. Grease is a semi-solid lubricant. It generally consists of soapemulsif ied with mineral or vegetable oil. Theresults of the study (Fig. 1) show a widevariation in Oil and grease. The Oil and greaseof TTPL eff luent sample is 234.1667 whereas Oiland grease of HLL sample is 4. Thus TTPL isshowing great variation from the standardvalue [20] and HLL value of oil and grease iswell within the standard value.

Ammoniacal Nitrogen

It is the measure of the amount of ammonia, atoxic pollutant often found in landf ill leachateand in waste products. The term is used widelyin waste treatment and water purif icationsystems. The graph (Fig. 1) gives the value ofAmmoniacal Nitrogen in TTPL and HLL samples.The effluent of TTPL (3.306667) and HLL (2) isshowing normal values for ammoniacal nitrogenwithin the standard value (50).

Table 2. Results of the analysis of f inal effluent characteristics of TTPL and HLL along with theKSPCB standards for eff luent discharge to surface waters

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Kjeldahl Nitrogen

It is a common parameter for the evaluationof soil and water quality. The samples requiredigestion with sulphuric acid to convertnitrogen into ammonium sulphate. The resultof the study as given in Fig. 1 shows thevariation of Kjeldahl Nitrogen in TTPL andHLL eff luent sample. The value of KjeldahlNitrogen in TTPL sample is 1.40 and HLL is 12which is less than the standard value ofeff luent [100].

Thus a comparative evaluation of the eff luentcharacteristics of the two industries, TTPL andHLL reveals that the eff luent of HLL isconforming to the standards set by PCB,whereas the eff luent of TTPL shows widevariations. Although the TTPL eff luent hasparameters such as COD, BOD, Ammoniacalnitrogen and Kjeldahl nitrogen within thestandard values, other parameters such as pH,Suspended Solids, Total Dissolved Solids andOil and Grease shows values outside theprescribed standards.

CONCLUSIONS

The study acquires special signif icance owingto its application in the socio- environmentalrealm as well as the delicate ecological balanceof the surface water resources concerned. A

comparative evaluation of the eff luentcharacteristics of the two industries, TTPL andHLL reveals that the eff luent of HLL isconforming to the standards set by PCB,whereas the eff luent of TTPL shows widevariations. Although the TTPL eff luent hasparameters such as COD, BOD, Ammoniacalnitrogen and Kjeldahl nitrogen within thestandard values, other parameters such as pH,Suspended Solids, Total Dissolved Solids andOil and Grease shows values outside theprescribed standards.

Based on the result of the present study,adoption of proper environmentalmanagement measures for pollution controland eff luent treatment in TTPL is stronglysuggested as the eff luent characteristicsrevealed are highly detrimental to both thebiotic and abiotic constituents of the receivingecosystem.

REFERENCES

BIS. 2009. Bureau of Indian Standards. BIS 3025(Part 44) (1993, Reaff irmed 2003): Methodof Sampling and Test (Physical andChemical) for Water and Wastewater.

Thongnuekhang, V. and Puetpaiboon, U. 2004,Nitrogen removal from concentrated latexwaste water by land treatment. pp. 521-528.