Organic Contaminants in Industrial Wastewater: Prospects of Waste Management by Integrated Approaches

Abstract

The growing world population and industrial development have led to the generation of different new types of hazardous chemicals that can have detrimental impacts on the environment. Contamination of soil, air, and water is one of the major problems facing the industrialized world today. A major class of these chemicals is organic aromatic compounds such as phenolic substances, most of which are hazardous pollutants and highly toxic even at low concentrations. Industrial plants such as petroleum refineries and gas processing facilities are the main sources of phenolic compounds in wastewaters. Given the increased awareness in realizing sustainable development, the management of wastewater containing high concentrations of phenols represents major economic and environmental challenges to the oil and gas industry. With emphasis placed on green technology, biotechnology has proved to play a vital role in the development of an economical approach for the effective removal of many organic water pollutants. Most of the recent research in the area has been focusing on developing new types of reactor systems and effective biocatalysts for the biodegradation of major contaminants in industrial wastewater. This chapter highlights the different options for the treatment of industrial wastewater with more focus on integrated systems of combined biological and physiochemical processes for the treatment of industrial effluents in an ecologically favorable process.