An Analysis on the Removal Process of Organic Pollutants in Water: A Review: The Impact and Treatment of Halogenated Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Industrial Wastewater

Abstract

Wastewater from manufacturing or chemical industries constitutes a very important source of water pollution. Industrial wastewater usually contains specific and readily identifiable chemical compounds. These include a variety of organic compounds. Many of these compounds, particularly the aromatic organic compounds are either carcinogenic or mutagenic in nature, which resist biological oxidation processes normally used by the industries for treating wastewater. These compounds are stable and persistent in nature with long-lasting adverse effects and they get dispersed over large areas before undergoing transformation into some other compounds. Many of these organic compounds are synthesized in the laboratory and even in very low concentration, they present a long term hazard as they are likely to accumulate either in food chain or in water sediment.The halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons are particularly stable and their solubility in fat aids accumulation in living beings. The majority of well-known persistent organic pollutants belong to the category of halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons. These compounds are not natural and are products or byproducts of various industrial processes, particularly the petroleum industry. Many of these compounds, like trihalomethanes (THM), chlorinated alkanes and alkenes, halogenated acetonitriles, chlorophenols, chlorinated humic acids, aminoacids and benzoquinone appear as chlorination byproducts in drinking water treatment.