Effluent treatment in silk dyeing units of Bangalore – A case study

Effluent treatment in silk dyeing units of Bangalore – A case study

B.S. Jai Prakash, H.R. Prakruthi, N. Nandakumar, Avinash Karnik, Y.S. Bhat, G.C. Ranganath, Rampur S. Viswanath, and A.S. Sadashivaiah

Silk manufacturing is one of the old occupations in Karnataka State, India  There are about 5000 silk weaving and dyeing units in Bangalore of which, 500 dyeing units are spread out in the Bangalore Municipality Area.  These units are established more than 100 years ago and have been in operation since then. The units are cottage industrial units functioning in an informal manner.  

The dyes used are generally mutagenic and carcinogenic and can cause severe damage to human beings, The silk yarn processing involves soaping of yarn, bleaching and dyeing.  The total quantity of waste water generation from dyeing activity is reported to be about 600 m³/day and that from the bleaching activity is 100 m³/day.  

In view of the informal nature of these industries and associated logistic problems, Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), has been conducting awareness programs and workshops to educate the dyers about the hazardous nature of the dyes and to adopt appropriate methods to treat the effluent. Members of the ACHMM-India Chapter were also invited to participate in the workshop.    The workshop discussed various aspects of collecting and treating  the effluents from the thickly populated area where collection of the effluents itself is a hard task.

The present paper discusses, accompanied by many illustrations, various problems, encountered andthe solutions proposed.