Textile Wastewater Coupled Treatment Implementing Enhanced Ozonation with Fenton-like Processes and Phytoremediation.

In this contribution, we described how phytoremediation using M. aquaticum is feasible with coupled ozonation/Fenton-like processes in real wastewater from the denim textile industry, with the purpose of removing color and, therefore, highly polluting particles. For the ozonation/Fenton-like process, pHs of 3 and 9 were evaluated using a copper-enriched pumice to activate the catalytic processes carried out in the Fenton-like reactions. Subsequently, phytoremediation was carried out using M. aquaticum to completely degrade the by-products generated from the ozone/Fenton-like process. Plant health was controlled through the determination of chlorophylls and carotenes. All the analyses were monitored by COD, UV–Vis spectrophotometry for the determinations of color quantification in the wastewater and oxidizable organic matter, and SEM/EDS for the characterization of the material and XPS to corroborate the oxidation state of the copper that gives rise to radical species. The results indicate that, at pH 3.0, the ozonation process with the PMPCu catalyst at 1 g/L is the most efficient, achieving a percentage of color removal of 86.79 ± 1.3% and COD of 76.19%, which is consistent with the optimization analysis of the experimental design. The residual color and its degradation by-products were eliminated by phytoremediation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]