Impact of Sugar Effluent on the Physico-Chemical and Geotechnical Behaviour of Soil

Abstract

Sugar industries plays major role in the environment pollution. The organic effluent (spentwash) discharged by such industries is one of the most complex, troublesome and strongest organic industrial effluent having extremely high BOD and COD values. Assessment on the effect of sugar effluent application on inorganic pollutants (pH, EC, alkalinity, chloride and sulfate, TS and TDS) and organic pollutants (COD, BOD, TVS) were evaluated in laboratory experiment. The soil - pollutant interaction was critically analyzed and reported to explain the effect of sugar effluent on commercial (bentonite) and natural soil properties. The experiments were conducted under batch and continuous mode operation usingsugar effluent contaminated soil samples with highly clay and silt content. Application of sugar effluent improved the physical and chemical properties of soil by reducing the bulk density and increasing the water holding capacity.  The present study showed that the sugar effluent was highly loaded with organic pollutants along with harmful heavy metals which showed significant effect on soil quality and chloride, sulfate present in sugar effluent was reduced by adsorption of sugar effluent through the soil. In this investigation soil columns were developed, and effect of liquid limit, plastic limit and shrinkage limit under expansive and normal soil conditions evaluated of any of soils have been used. COD reduction was achieved ~20 to 48%.

Keywords: Sugar Effluent, Physico-chemical behaviour, commercial and Natural soils, Soil – pollutant interaction, Atterberg limits.