Cost-effective remedial to microfiber pollution from wash effluent in Kolkata and Ranaghat. (February 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Mondal, Ishita; Ghosh, Debasis; Biswas, Prasanta Kumar
• Is Part Of: Chemosphere. Volume 313(2023)
• Publication Date: 2023-02
• Subjects: Microfiber-pollution -- Wash effluent -- Packed-bed microfiltration -- Efficiency -- Cost; Pollution -- Periodicals; Pollution -- Physiological effect -- Periodicals; Environmental sciences -- Periodicals; Atmospheric chemistry -- Periodicals; 551.511
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.137548
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0045-6535

Abstract

Abstract: The microfibers generated from Polyester and Nylon based materials during washing cause serious environmental pollution by both contaminating the aquatic environment and the livelihood of the underwater creatures as well. This study aims at investigating the microfiber-pollution in wash effluents collected from different regions of Kolkata which is believed to be one of the microfiber-polluted cities in the South-east Asia in recent times. In this work, packed bed microfiltration (PBMF) was adopted in an economic and eco-friendly manner to arrest adequate amounts of microfibers and non-biodegradable matters present in the water samples collected from different regions of Kolkata and its surrounding areas. Moreover, effective parameters such as packed bed height to diameter ratio ( H/D ), mess size of the adopted filtration unit were varied from 0.71 to 2.85 and 60 to 100, respectively to understand the efficacy of the approach and to justify the potential of such alternative in order to alleviate the concern as well. The present study reveals that the microfiltration efficiency of the proposed PBMF unit was achieved maximum 93.5% for sample A and 92.2% for sample D respectively to reduce the microfiber count from 7614 to 543 in an hour operation at a flow rate of 60 L h −1 . Besides, the cost of such system was found to be promising as much as 5 US$ on a yearly basis. Graphical abstract: Image 1 Highlights: This study emphasizes the microfiber-pollution in wash effluents in Kolkata and Ranaghat. Kolkata is believed to be one of the microfiber-polluted cities in the South-east Asia in recent times. The present study addresses packed bed microfiltration (PBMF) can be the cost-effective alternative for efficient microfiber retention.