Activated carbon from an agricultural by-product, for the treatment of dyeing industry wastewater

Dyeing industry wastewater was employed for treatment by activated carbon p repared from coconut tree sawdust, at different agitation times, carbon dos e and pH. The physico-chemical characteristics of this activated carbon wer e determined. The adsorption equilibrium for colour removal was reached wit hin 60 min. In general, pH did not have any significant effect on colour re moval. Removal of colour, chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen d emand (BOD), total solids and total hardness increased with increase in car bon dose. The use of carbon would be economical, since sawdust is a waste p roduct and available in large quantities, especially in India. (C) 2000 Els evier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.