Performance of Solar Still for Tannery Wastewater Treatment

Tannery sector is a major contributor for the development of Indian economy, exports and also provides large scale employment. This industry generates a substantial quantity of waste effluents which can cause severe water pollution and the treatment requires high energy. The solar still can be used for the treatment of tannery wastewater which requires only the solar energy. The study aims efficiently treat the tannery effluent by using solar still. It will be performed by feeding tannery wastewater for 3.0 m2 area of the solar still and was conducted during the months of January, February and March. The initial characteristics of the raw wastewater is analyzed and results indicated that the chemical oxygen demand (COD), Total Dissolved Solids are very high. The solar still tested in this study proved to be extremely successful in removing inorganic and organic contaminants from wastewater. It was shown that the distillate produced was free from solids, 93.3 ± 1% lower in terms of COD, 98 ± 1% in terms of TDS and 99 ± 0.5% in terms of TSS Based on the quality of the condensation, the results indicate that solar radiation can treat wastewater and can produce pure water which are free from pollutants. The experiment showed the feasibility of treating wastewater to produce clean water, which suggests a possible solution regarding the handling of the municipal wastewater produced.