Vehicle Washing (Doorsmeer) Wastewater Treatment using Flotation Electroagulation Combination

Abstract

Vehicle washing business services in the current era are growing in numbers, both simple and those that have used technology. As a consequence, the production of wastewater more and more, which if not controlled will have an impact on environmental pollution. Conventional wastewater treatment technology is sometimes less effective because it requires chemicals in the process and requires relatively longer, so the need for land to build a treatment unit is relatively wider. To provide an alternative treatment process that is simpler and has good results and does not require large tracts of land, it is necessary to develop electro-coagulation technology combined with flotation. Electrocoagulation is the process of clumping and precipitation of fine particles contained in water by using electrical energy. This study was to determine the ability of electrocoagulation-flotation technology in decreasing the parameters of COD, detergents, and oil in motor vehicle washing wastewater based on the type of electrodes used at 12 and 24-volt electric voltages with contact times of 30 and 60 minutes. This study is an experimental study with a "pre and post-test group design" design. The results showed that the combination of electrocoagulation-flotation at 24-volt voltage and 60 minutes contact time with aluminum electrodes could reduce COD 82.7%, oil 46.5%, and detergent 68.9%. Whereas with iron electrodes the COD decreased by 81.1%, oil by 43.7% and detergents by 65.1%. With an average reduction, aluminum electrodes are better than iron electrodes. Although aluminum and iron electrodes are better, statistically the two are not different (p <0.05), this shows that there is no difference in the ability to decrease test parameters. Other than that, the longer the contact time, the greater the decrease in test parameters. The conclusion is that the electrocoagulation-flotation combination method can be used to reduce the COD, oil/fat and detergent parameters in motor vehicle washing wastewater. The results of this study are expected to be applied to motor vehicle washing activities by utilizing iron waste as an electrode.