PHYSICO-CHEMICAL PARAMETERS OF RESIDUAL WATER FROM DIFFERENT SCOURING TREATMENTS OF HEMP/COTTON FABRIC

1, 2 Impact of economic development - ecological balance rises numerous and complex problems for the textile industry. It is known that all textile processes need important quantities of water and chemicals. This situation generates large amounts of wastewater which cannot be further use without additional treatments because of the environmental problems. The issue of environmental protection has become an essential part of the textile industry development strategy. Many studies in the field present alternatives for the conventional scouring to reduse water pollution. The applied ecological strategy is focused on process optimization and pollution prevention. The paper presents a comparison of the physico-chemical parameters of the wastewater resulted from the various scouring treatments applied on a cotton/hemp fabric. Three types of scouring treatments have been carried out: two with enzymes for which a commercial enzyme product, a washing agent and EDTA or sodium citrate as complexing agents were used, and one classical scouring treatment with sodium hydroxide. The main physico-chemical parameters of the residual water analyzed were: pH, salinity, turbidity, TDS (total dissolved solids), conductivity, chemical oxygen demand (CCOMn), total dissolved oxygen and dry residue. From the two enzymatic treatments, the values of physico-chemical parameters of the residual water were in accordance with the legislation in case were the sodium citrate was used. For the alkaline treatment, the data were even with 100 % higher compared to enzymatic treatments. For some parameters, higher values were registered also for the enzymatic scouring where EDTA was used as a complexing agent.