Polymers in Wastewater Treatment

Abstract

The rapid growth of the human population and industrialization are mainly responsible for widespread global pollution in air, soil, and water. Negligence at the local levels regarding the disposal of toxic wastes and limitations of state-of-the-art facilities are the main reasons for severe water pollution. Water treatment is essential for human uses and before disposal of the industrial and domestic wastewaters into the environment. Numerous techniques such as sand filtration, adsorption, coagulation, flocculation, membrane separation, advanced oxidation processes, and ion-exchange have been investigated in the recent past to remove various micropollutants from water. The adsorption, coagulation, flocculation, and ion-exchange using both inorganic and polymeric materials are gaining importance in real field water treatment applications. Polymeric materials have many advantages over inorganic materials, including the requirement of less amount, less treatment time, low volume of sludge generation, easy de-watering of sludge, and easy sludge management for water treatment plants. The polymer macromolecules are known for the large number of functional groups to scavenge the micropollutants very effectively. Further, there is an endless opportunity to design new polymer molecules to adsorb the pollutants from water selectively. Numerous polymeric coagulants and ion-exchangers have been developed and applied even at the industrial level. The application of environmentally friendly natural polymeric materials alone or with the optimal dosage of synthetic material reduces the overall cost and performance of the water treatment process. Extensive research to utilize natural polymers in wastewater treatment is needed to get a sustainable solution for this global problem.