DOI: 10.11648/j.ajset.20261104.31 ISSN: 2578-8353

Biotechnological Valorization of Solid Waste–Derived Adsorbents for Sustainable Removal of COD, BOD, and TDS from Dairy Wastewater

Suman Mishra, Santosh Bindhani, Hora Jena
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The dairy industry is one of the most important sectors among the food process industries. But it generates a significant amount of wastewater due to more quantity of water usage in various processing units, i.e., pasteurization, homogenization, equipment cleaning, and sanitation. On an average, about 2.5 to 10 liters of wastewater are generated for each liter of milk processed. This wastewater contains a large concentration of pollutants like carbohydrates, proteins, oil, greases, suspended solids and other nutrients. Because of these, the concentration of BOD and COD in the waste water was pretty high. If it is dumped directly to the water resources without appropriate treatment, it may serious problems like, polluted water, bad smells, even damaged aquatic life. In this study, an environmental-friendly approach was adopted by transforming agricultural waste materials like dried guava leaves and coconut shells into granular activated carbon for the wastewater treatment. To simulate actual industrial conditions, synthetic dairy wastewater was generated in laboratory scale. Then it was treated using these low-cost adsorbents. Their performance was evaluated by measuring the reduction in COD, BOD, and TDS concentrations. Activated carbon derived from guava leaves achieved the removal efficiencies of 76% for COD, 78% for BOD, and 65% for TDS. In comparison, the coconut shell derived activated carbon performed somewhat better, achieving 84% removal of COD, 80% of BOD, and 68% of TDS. The study demonstrates that converting waste into valuable resources through biotechnological processes provides a sustainable and eco-friendly solution for the efficient treatment of dairy wastewater.

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