OZONATION - AN IMPORTANT TECHNIQUE TO COMPLY WITH NEW GERMAN LAWS FORTEXTILE WASTE-WATER TREATMENT

The German textile industry is challenged by the introduction of new g overnmental regulations in the field of textile wastewater treatment T his causes a large increase of water costs in comparison with other Eu ropean countries. Many economic experts even see Germany seriously end angered as a place of textile production, however there are also oppor tunities with the development of high performance cleaning technologie s as a result of these governmental measures. In particular the requir ed separate treatment of selected wastewaters of different finishing p rocesses has some good perspectives since specialized wastewater techn iques can be applied efficiently. For instance the separation of unfix ed reactive dyes is the ideal basis for ozone oxidation. Ozonation bei ng a sludge-free method to decompose dyestuff, finishing products, and other organic materials is of increasing importance because of the li mited space for disposal of sludges. Other advantages of ozone treatme nt are the improvement of biodegradability, reduction of aromatic and halogenated organic compounds and also a significant decrease of chemi cal oxygen demand. The ozonation of textile wastewaters in combination with inexpensive biological processes has the potential to play a maj or role in the future. Partial replacement of coagulation/precipitatio n can be expected.