Assessment of Industrial Effluents Quality and their Possible Impact on Surface Water

Abstract

The printing, textile, wood and plastics industries have an important environmental impact, since they consume large amounts of water and produce highly polluted waste waters (Sostar-Turk et al. 2005). The current study aimed to investigate several effluents generated by different industries based on their physicochemical parameters and to evaluate their possible impact on the water body. Effluents from two printings, a textile, a wood and a plastics industry from Cluj County were analysed for various physicochemical parameters such as temperature, pH, biochemical and chemical oxygen demand, total dissolved solids, total suspended solids, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, ammonium, chloride, sulphate, petroleum ether extractible substances and detergents. The samples were analysed using the corresponding standard procedures SR ISO 105523-97, SR ISO 1899/1-03, SR ISO 6060-96, STAS 9187-84, STAS 6953-81, Merck 14543, Merck 14537, SR ISO 7150/1-01, EPA 375.4/05, SR IS 9297-01, SR ISO 7150/1-01, SR EN 903-03. The temperature, total dissolved solids, chloride, sulphate and detergents content of the effluents were within the permissible limits for surface water discharge, while the other parameters exceeded the limit set by legislation. The data of the present study showed that the analysed physicochemical parameters significantly varied with the effluent source. The study indicated a seasonal variation for several parameters, dictated by the production regime of the manufacture. In many cases the quality of the studied effluents was below the limits set by Romanian and UE legislation.