Integration of electro coagulation and adsorption for the treatment of tannery wastewater – The case of an Algerian factory, Rouiba

Abstract Tanneries have a severe impact on the water quality if they are rejected without treatment. Indeed, they contain not only an important amount of biodegradable compounds, like proteins and fats, but also non-readily biodegradable wastes, such hydrolyzed piles and toxic heavy metals like chromium, the most toxic, which is extensively used for skin tanning. The main problem associated with this anthropogenic contamination is chromium toxicity for living organisms. To reduce the pollution of tannery wastewaters, the development of efficient processes from a technical and an economical point of view is needed. To this aim the efficiency of coupling electrocoagulation ( EC ) and adsorption ( AD ) in terms of COD removal, turbidity decrease and residual chromium (VI) amount was examined in this work