Chapters authored
Biological versus Physicochemical Technologies for Industrial Sewage Treatment: Which Is the Most Efficient and Inexpensive?
Industries play a major role in the development of countries′ economy. However, they are known as the biggest source of water pollution in the whole world. In fact, several industries use a huge amount of water in their manufacturing operations, and then, they reject a large volume of wastewaters such as tanneries, brassware, olive mills … etc. The sewage of these industries may contain organic/inorganic matters or toxic components that harm human health and the environment. Therefore, the treatment of these effluents is necessary. For that, there are many treatment processes, including biological and physicochemical processes or both. The choice of adequate process is depending on many reasons, especially on the biodegradability degree of each effluent, as well as the presence of recalcitrant pollutants. Nevertheless, biological technologies, particularly bioremediation, are recently an emerging technology for the elimination of recalcitrant pollutants like heavy metals. Furthermore, these biotechnologies are simple, efficient, eco-friendly and inexpensive. Therefore, this environmental biotechnology may be a new approach for the treatment of industrial sewage, so, it can successfully replace physicochemical technologies that are very expensive.
Part of the book: Sewage