An industrial insight on treatment strategies of the pharmaceutical industry effluent with varying qualitative characteristics

Abstract

Abstract This study aims to provide non-biological treatment solutions to the pharmaceutical industry, depending on the quantitative and qualitative aspects of the wastewater. Commonly overlooked aspects of industrial wastewater such as its fluctuating characteristics, selection of suitable sampling points, and adopting an appropriate treatment methodology are addressed. Different units in a drug-producing industry and chief ingredients at each stage were identified. An appropriate sampling point was finalized following a series of systematic and repeated samplings of prominent industrial locations, at different periods. High organic and solids strength industrial wastewater samples were characterized and subjected to various physico-chemical and oxidative techniques, namely electrocoagulation (EC), chemical coagulation, photocatalytic oxidation, electro-Fenton’s (EF), Photo-Fenton’s (PF), and Fenton’s oxidation. The highest total organic carbon (TOC) reduction efficiencies about 47, 23, and 62 % were obtained from Fenton’s oxidation for distinct samplings. The variation in quality of effluent heavily influences the treatment efficacies of individual treatment schemes. Hence, rigid treatment protocols are inadvisable to propose for industrial perspectives to handle diurnal variations in effluent characteristics. Rather, industry-specific solutions may be provided, depending on the type of wastewater generated.