Title: Leather manufacturing by using treated municipal wastewaters

Authors: Monica Puccini; Sandra Vitolo; Maurizia Seggiani; Domenico Castiello

Addresses: Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering, University of Pisa, Largo Lucio Lazzarino 56126 Pisa, Italy ' Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering, University of Pisa, Largo Lucio Lazzarino 56126 Pisa, Italy ' Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering, University of Pisa, Largo Lucio Lazzarino 56126 Pisa, Italy ' PO.TE.CO. Scrl – Polo Tecnologico Conciario, Via Walter Tobagi, 30 56022 Castelfranco di Sotto, Pisa, Italy

Abstract: Leather processing requires copious amounts of freshwater, approximately between 15 and 20 L per kg of raw hide. The possibility of reusing reclaimed municipal wastewaters in the leather production assumes a great significance, proving a sustainable solution to the conservation of the groundwater reserves. In the present work, a combination of a membrane bioreactor (MBR) and nanofiltration (NF) membrane processes was investigated for the municipal wastewater reclamation, and their performances were evaluated and designed to meet water quality criteria required by the wet stages of tanning process. The results showed that the municipal wastewaters treated by combing MBR and NF met the required quality criteria in terms of total/permanent hardness, Fe, Mn and ammonium contents. The quality of the leathers produced both on pilot and industrial scale using treated water did not show any significant difference in terms of physical and technical properties, and satisfied fully the tannery specifications.

Keywords: municipal wastewaters; leather industry; membrane bioreactors; nanofiltration; tanning process; wastewater treatment; leather processing; reclaimed wastewater; wastewater reuse; sustainability; wastewater reclamation; water quality; tannery specifications.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEWM.2015.074941

International Journal of Environment and Waste Management, 2015 Vol.16 No.4, pp.315 - 335

Received: 10 Nov 2014
Accepted: 20 Nov 2015
Published online: 24 Feb 2016 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article