RADIATION TREATMENT OF SKIM SERUM WASTEWATER FROM NATURAL RUBBER LATEX CENTRIFUGING UNITS

The skim serum waste water generated during the centrifuging of natural rubber latex is highly polluting in nature. The raw wastewater and its anaerobically treated form were subjected to gamma irradiation treatment. Different combinations of Fenton’s reagent and different doses of gamma radiations were also applied. The effectiveness of treatment was assessed in terms of pH, turbidity, COD, BOD, total Kjeldahl nitrogen, ammoniacal nitrogen, total solids, dissolved solids and sulphide. Changes in the concentrations of biochemical constituents and enumeration of total bacterial population were also used to assess the treatment efficiency. Anaerobically treated effluent can be more effectively treated using gamma radiation and Fenton’s reagent. Most of the biochemical constituents and bacterial populations were completely removed from the anaerobically treated effluent by this method of treatment. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.erem.73.3.13985