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Performance
Study of Ion - Exchange Resin Treatment System for Mercury Removal
from Wastewater at Gujarat Alkalies & Chemical Ltd. Baroda, Gujarat
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Foreword
A
polluted environment is a potential health and ecological hazard,
the mani- festations of which are already being felt especially
in big cities such as Bombay and Calcutta. Realising these hazards,
the Government of India had introduced a legislation, the Water
(Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. Under this Act, the
Central Board functions, to protect our water resources from pollution.
While laws do serve to act as a deterrant, ultimately it is the
social and moral responsibility of the industry to provide a clean
and healthy environ- ment to live .
This report deals with the pollution of the environment by mercury,
used in the manufacture of caustic soda and chlorine by the mercury
cell technology. Mercury is a toxic substance which gets biologically
transformed into deadly poisonous methyl-mercury. Methyl-mercury
enters the food chain through fish and the implication of this is
quite dangerous. Hence, its discharges at industrial sources need
to be controlled Qnd therefore, the Minimal National
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Standards (MINAS) for the effluent from the chlor-alkali industry
had been developed by the Central Board. These standards were to be
implemented and achieved by all such industries by January 31, 1984,
by providing inplant control measures and by providing suitable treatment
technology, if needed. The essential and basic measures for an effective
reduction of the mercury e mission to be pursued are : complete segregation
of mercury-contaminated discharge water from \ uncontaminated water
by adopting a separate sewer system for each l reduction of the mercury-bearing
wastewater quantities by returning certain process water streams into
the production process treatment and recovery of contaminated water
and its re-use within the plant arrangement of the entire brine system
and other treatment units in concrete pits to ensure that any overflowing
or leaking mercury bearing fluids are collected and can be returned
into the process and particular care taken to avoid spillage of mercury.
complete segregation of mercury-contaminated discharge water from
\ uncontaminated water by adopting a separate sewer system for each
l reduction of the mercury-bearing wastewater quantities by returning
certain process water streams into the production process treatment
and recovery of contaminated water and its re-use within the plant
arrangement of the entire brine system and other treatment units in
concrete pits to ensure that any overflowing or leaking mercury bearing
fluids are collected and can be returned into the process and particular
care taken to avoid spillage of mercury.
A polluted environment is a potential health and ecological hazard,
the mani- festations of which are already being felt especially in
big cities such as Bombay and Calcutta. Realising these hazards, the
Government of India had introduced a legislation, the Water (Prevention
& Control of Pollution) Act, 1974. Under this Act, the Central Board
functions, to protect our water resources from pollution. While laws
do Serve to act as a deterrant, ultimately it is the social and moral
responsibility of the industry to provide a clean and healthy environ-
ment to live . |
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Nilay Chaudhuri
Chairman, CPCB
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