Treatment of Wastewater from Dyeing Process of Weaving Workshop in Inle Lake by Using Lotus Stalk and Coconut Shell Charcoal

抄録

Inle Lake is the second largest natural lake in Myanmar. It has a population of some 150,000 people, many of whom live on floating islands of vegetation. About half of the people who live in Inle Lake work the traditional hand weaving business. It is now facing the environmental degradation of its area due to human activities. Direct discharging of wastewater containing contaminants (especially azo dyes and heavy metals) from dyeing process into its environment impairs the soil and water qualities and causes a series of problems in living beings. In this research, the treatment of wastewater of dyeing process from silk, lotus and cotton hand weaving workshops in Inle lake was performed by sorption technique using local available waste, lotus stalk and coconut shell charcoal as the major sorbent materials. The results obtained from dyed wastewater treatment using activated coconut shell charcoal (5 g), activated lotus stalk (5 g), and a combination effect of activated lotus stalk and activated coconut shell charcoal at a 4:1 ratio for appropriate time taken treatment indicated that the highest color removal efficiency (94%, 95%, 100%) respectively. Therefore, a combination of sorbent materials (4:1) might be the best choice for the dyed wastewater treatment. The resultant data of before and after treatment of wastewater were compared with WEPA standard for public health. Some tested heavy metals and physicochemical properties of treated water were within the WEPA standard. However, long term disposing of wastewater without proper treatment causes a serious problem. Therefore, treatment of wastewater before discharging into its environment is necessary for the conservation and sustainability of Inle Lake.