Document Type
Article
Author ORCID Identifier
Mai Fayed https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6428-1951
R. Ryan Dupont https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5900-6461
Mohamed Fayed https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0364-5408
Journal/Book Title/Conference
Sustainability
Volume
15
Issue
11
Publisher
MDPI AG
Publication Date
5-25-2023
First Page
1
Last Page
12
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Abstract
Grease, oil, hydrocarbon residues, heavy metals, and surfactants are all present in car wash wastewater (CWW), which all can have detrimental effects on the environment and human health. This study was designed to assess CWW treatment using an upgraded physical technique combined with a range of conventional and more sustainable coagulants. Physical treatment effectively lowered the oil and grease (O&G) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) of the CWW by 79 ± 15% and 97 ± 1.6%, respectively. Additional treatment was provided using chemical coagulation–flocculation– settling. In jar test studies, humic acid (HA) and alum were found to provide significantly higher turbidity removal, 79.2 ± 3.1% and 69.8 ± 8.0%, respectively, than anionic polyacrylamide (APA), 7.9 ± 5.6% under influent turbidity values from 89 to 1000 NTU. Overall physical/chemical treatment of CWW yielded 97.3 ± 0.8% COD removal, and 99.2 ± 0.4% O&G removal using HA and alum. Due to the numerous problems created when using synthetic coagulants, naturally occurring coagulants that have no impact on human health, such as HA, are highly desirable options. The findings of this study show that treating CWW provides several advantages for sustainable development, health and well-being, and raising public knowledge and support for water reuse.
Recommended Citation
Fayed, M.; Shewitah, M.A.; Dupont, R.R.; Fayed, M.; Badr, M.M. Treatability Study of Car Wash Wastewater Using Upgraded Physical Technique with Sustainable Flocculant. Sustainability 2023, 15, 8581. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15118581
