Evaluation of the Performance of Wastewater Treatment Plant at Steel Mill Karachi, Pakistan

Ghazala Akber Jamali; Satesh Kumar Devrajani; Muhammad Safar Korai; Ghulam Farooq Rajar; Rasool Bux Mahar; Muhammad Ali Kapri; Saif Ali Khan Hashmani

doi:10.58921/jse.02.03.054

Ghazala Akber Jamali U.S. Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Water, Mehran University of Engineering & Technology, Jamshoro, Sindh
Satesh Kumar Devrajani U.S Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Water (USPCAS-W), Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET), Jamshoro
Muhammad Safar Korai Institute of Environmental Engineering and Management, Mehran University of Engineering & Technology, Jamshoro, Sindh
Ghulam Farooq Rajar Institute of Environmental Engineering and Management, Mehran University of Engineering & Technology, Jamshoro, Sindh
Rasool Bux Mahar Benazir Bhutto Shaheed University of Technology and Skill Development, Khairpur Mirs
Muhammad Ali Kapri Faculty of Agricultural Engineering, Sindh Agricultural University, TandoJam, Pakistan
Saif Ali Khan Hashmani Faculty of Agricultural Engineering, Sindh Agricultural University, TandoJam, Pakistan

DOI: https://doi.org/10.58921/jse.02.03.054

Keywords: Influent, Effluent, Wastewater, Treatment Plant, Steel

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to evaluate how well Steel Mill Karachi's wastewater treatment system works. Wastewater treatment facilities employ the activated sludge technique. Several influent and effluent locations allowed for the collection of influent and effluent samples. A number of physicochemical parameters, such as total dissolved solids (TDS), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5), total suspended solids (TSS), chemical oxygen demand (COD), electric conductivity (EC), pH, and other metals, such as potassium (K), iron (Fe), sulphate (SO4-2), calcium (Ca), sodium (Na), zinc (Zn), and magnesium (Mg), were measured in order to evaluate the effectiveness of wastewater treatment plants. In a lab environment, the sample's analysis findings were compared to Sindh Environmental Quality Standards (SEQS) for Pakistan. EC, BOD5, COD, SO4-2, Ca, Mg, Na, K, TDS, TSS, EC, BOD₅, COD, SO₄^-2, Ca, Mg, Na, K, Fe, and Zn were removed to different degrees: 42.93%, 60.33%, 43.63%, 51.53%, 40.5%, 35.56%, 26.33%, 22.12%, 34.09%, 20.75%, 55.87%, 22.12%, and 76.10%. Only two metrics, the COD and Zn concentrations, were over the SEQS limits, keeping other effluent results parameters within the limits. Additionally, it is advised that proper maintenance be carried out to increase the effectiveness of wastewater treatment plants.