Low environmental impact in cotton knit processing with reuse of raw wastewater

Abstract

Textile chemical processing involves the use of a vast quantity of water, which necessitates water management using reduce, reuse, and recycle (3R's) techniques. Reuse of water is an attractive option and needs a detailed investigation to make it feasible commercially. In the present work, the direct reuse of wastewater in the pretreatment of cotton fabric was studied. The treated fabrics were characterized, tested for efficacy of pretreatments, and analyzed for dyeability towards reactive dyes. The novel process’s ecological aspects were studied to find out the benefits compared with the existing process. The fabrics were characterized using SEM, FTIR, and XRD techniques, demonstrating the reuse process without harming the substrate. This novel process showed a great promise to save a substantial quantity of freshwater, i.e. 33% of the total freshwater used, thus achieving economy and ecology in cotton pretreatments.