Water And Wastewater Quantification In A Cotton Textile Industry

Abstract

Textile manufacturing industry uses substantial amount of water not only in the production processes but also in manufacturing the raw materials. Water is used successively in almost every process of production. In textile manufacturing use of water is essentially in conjunction with several chemicals and the water used in numerous washing cycles of cotton fabric or yarn carry along these chemicals in the waste water. Consumptive use of water is a very small proportion of the total quantity of water used and most of the water is discharged in the form of wastewater. Similar is the fate of chemicals used in the manufacturing of textiles. Ingredients of chemicals used in textile production ultimately discharged as wastewater have considerable environmental significance and exert pollution load in the recipient water bodies where such effluents ultimately get disposed. This study aims at assessment of quantity of water consumed and wastewater discharged from every process of production in a cotton textile industry. Study has been conducted in an actual industrial set up over a period of one year. Primary data was collected during the study of each process operation for water consumption and wastewater discharged. Secondary data was collected from all the tube wells used for abstraction of water in the industry. Data of water consumption and wastewater in a cotton textile is an immensely useful benchmark in planning and prioritizing the pollution prevention and wastewater treatment strategies. Study also presents opportunity to the textile industry in general to plan conservation of water.