Current status of textile wastewater management practices and effluent characteristics in Tanzania

Abstract Textile wastewater from wet processing units is a major environmental problem. Most chemicals, including dyes, are only partly consumed, resulting in highly colored wastewater containing a variety of chemicals released into the environment. This paper gives information on the current management of textile wastewater in Tanzania. A semiquantitative analysis was done to identify the main types of chemicals used in wet processing units, wastewater characteristics and existing wastewater treatment methods in the textile industry. The performance evaluation of the existing wastewater treatment plants is also discussed. The advantages of integrating constructed wetlands with the existing treatment facilities for textile wastewater are explained. It has been observed that pretreatment and dying/printing of the fabrics are the main two processes that produce wastewater in many textile companies. Main pollutants are chemicals used from pretreatment and materials removed from de-sizing, bleaching and scouring processes. Dyes, printing pigments and dye auxiliaries are the main pollutants from the dyeing/printing process. Most of the textile companies in Tanzania are equipped with effluent treatment plants. Wastewater treatment plants have basically similar units, which are coagulation-flocculation, sedimentation through clarifiers and aerobic reactor. However, their effluents do not meet discharge limits stipulated by the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS).