Reducing Environmental Impact of Industrial Effluents, Soluble Organic Compounds, Oxygen Depletion, Eutrophication

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	Reducing Environmental Impact f Industrial Effluents In order to control pollution, industrial effluents, which contain toxic substances, must be treated to render them harmless. Alternatively, sources of the toxicity of effluents may be attacked. The undersirable waste characteristics of industrial effluents include the following (i) Suspended solids and soluble organic compounds, which undergo progressive decomposition and thus result in oxygen depletion and production of noxious gasses.
(ii) Heavy metals, cyanides, and other toxic organics (e.g. chlorinated compounds in effluents from paper industry), which are deleterious to aquatic life. (iii) Undesirable levels of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), which enhance eutrophication (excessive plant growth, which kills animals due to deprivation of O₂) and stimulate undesirable algal growth. (iv) Non-biodegradable chemical and volatile materials like H₂S and SO₂. The subject of the above four classes of pollutants, is vast and can not be treated at length here. Therefore, a few examples will be used to illustrate the subject. The biotechnological methods for this treatment make a part of the subject of bioremediation.