Application of Membranes in Tannery Wastewater Treatment

Tannery industries generate a huge quantity of wastewater during various stages of leather processing, and this wastewater consists of highly toxic substances such as chromium, sulfides, chlorides, and others. Several conventional processes such as advanced oxidation, coagulation, electrocoagulation, adsorption, and membrane separation, among others, are in practice for treating tannery wastewater. The membrane separation technique is recognized as a more promising method for treating industrial effluent than other existing techniques due to its various advantages. In the last few years, membrane separation and membrane-based hybrid technologies have received greater attention for many industrial wastewater management, especially for tannery wastewater treatment. The membrane technique is extensively used to improve indispensable wastewater parameters such as chromium, biochemical oxygen demand, carbon chemical oxygen demand, chloride, and total organic carbon, among others. The combination of a membrane system with other processes, such as electrocoagulation, coagulation, and advanced oxidation, is also efficiently used to treat leather industry wastewater. This chapter describes the efficient use of various membrane techniques for the treatment of various pollutants present in tannery wastewater.