Effluent Treatment Plant and Its Importance on Textile and

Garments Industry in Bangladesh Economy:

An Analytical Exercise for Future Development

Prepared by
Name: Asif Azam Khan
Student ID: 1010218020
Enrolled Semester: Spring 2016

Prepared for
Dr. Sakib Bin Amin
Assistant Professor in School of Business and Economics

April, 2016
 Department of Economics

School of Business and Economics

North South University

Letter of Transmittal

To
Dr. Sakib Bin Amin
Assistant Professor
School of Business and Economics
North South University

Subject: Submission of research report

Dear Sir,

With due respect, I would like to submit my research report in the department through
your honor, done under your supervision titled, “Effluent Treatment Plant and Its
Importance on Textile and Garments Industry in Bangladesh Economy: An Analytical
Exercise for Future Development” for your kind perusal and acceptance. During the process
of research I have gained significant knowledge regarding the topic of my research and I
would like to extend my gratitude to you and the Economics Department. Should you have
you question and query please contact me via email (asif.azam.aak@gmail.com) or via cell
phone (+8801670810309).

With kind regards,

______________________
Name: Asif Azam Khan
Student ID: 1010218020
 Acknowledgement
At the outset, I would like to acknowledge Almighty ALLAH most gratefully. He is the One
Who controls everything and He is the One Who gave me the strength and patience. I am
also very grateful to my mother, Irin Pervin, my uncle, Abdul Muhid, my aunt, Priyanesh
Muhid and my brother, Saif Azam Khan who have supported me with everything in every
aspects of life.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my faculty supervisor, Dr. Sakib Bin Amin
for his invaluable help and constant encouragement throughout the course of this research.
I am most grateful for his teaching, advice and guidance, not only in the research
methodologies but also in many other methodologies in life. I would not have achieved this
far and this research would not have been completed without all the support that I have
always received from him.
I am very grateful to Mr Ruben Gaffar, Managing Director from Vision Group, Major (Retd)
Tarek Hasan, GM-Admin and Compliance from Vision Group and Mr Muntasir Moin,
Managing Director at United Apparels who helped me to gather the data required for my
research. Without their valuable support I would not know from where to start my
research and from where to look for data. The research works of Dr Mohidus Samad Khan
on the Effluent Treatment Plant have also been a great source of motivation and guidance
for me in performing this research. I am specially thankful to Moumita Ahmed of Dhaka
Tribune, for helping me in publishing my article based on this research in their newspaper,
would like to thank The Financial Express and the Daily New Nation for having my article
in their newspapers. I would also like to thank Nazia Afroz who has helped me in
translating my article based on this research in Bangla. Moreover, I am highly obliged to
my friends Tahrina Meher Chowdhury, Minhaz Ahmed and Kazi Raquibul Haque for their
immense support throughout my entire duration in North South University. They have
been amazing friends with me through thick and thin and I would not have been here
without them.
 Table of Contents
Page Number:

Abstract 1

Chapter 1: Introduction 3

Chapter 2: Effluent Treatment Plant 8

2.1 Effluent Treatment Plant 8

2.2 Useful Tips and Technology before Setting up an ETP 10

2.3 Defining the Typical Types of ETP 10

2.4 The Typical Treatment Steps of the Effluent Treatment Plant 11

2.5 Defining the Different Unit Operations 12

2.6 Effluent Treatment Plant Scenario in Bangladesh 15

2.7 The Impact of Textile and Garments Industry on the Environment and Area Wise
Variation in Parameters in Bangladesh 15
Chapter 3: Case Study 17

3.1 Case Study on Vision Group 18

3.1.1 Process Description 19

3.1.2 Analysis of Test Results 19

3.1.3 Vision Group’s Project for Re-Using Treated Water from the ETP 22

3.2 Case Study on United Apparels 23

3.2.1 Process Description 23

3.2.2 Analysis of Test Results 24

Chapter 4: Key Findings and Initiatives Regarding the Usage of ETP 27

4.1 Lessons Learnt from the Case Studies 27

4.2 Benefits of Effective Management of Effluent 28

4.3 Characterizing the Effluent 30

4.4 Practices and Possible Initiatives That Help in Operating the ETP 31

Chapter 5: Reviewing the Processes Involved in Effluent Treatment 35

5.1 Reviewing the Preliminary Processes 35

5.2 Reviewing Physical/Chemical Processes 36

5.3 Reviewing the Biological Process 38

Chapter 6: Common Difficulties in Operating the ETP and Government 40

Initiatives for the Usage of ETP in Bangladesh
6.1 Difficulties in ETP Operations in Bangladesh 40

6.2 Government Initiatives on Raising Awareness for ETPs 41

Chapter 7: Conclusion 43

Appendix A 46

Appendix B 50
 List of Tables
Page Number:
Chapter 2
Table 2.1: Effluent Characteristics of Various Wet Textile Processing Operations 9
Table 2.2: Effluent Characteristics of Untreated Effluent from Processing of Fabric 9
and DOE Standards for Waste for Discharge into an Inland Surface Water Body
Table 2.3: Differences between the Activated Sludge and the Fixed Film 14
Appendix B
Table B.1: List of Interview Questions 56
Table B.2: Design Basis of Vision Group’s ETP 57
Table B.3: Utility Requirement for Vision Group’s ETP 58
 List of Figures
Page Number:
Chapter 2

Fig 2.1: The four different stages of effluent treatment 12

Chapter 3

Fig 3.1: Test Results for Jan 22 to Feb 02 (2015) 20

Fig 3.2: Test Results for Dec 10 to Dec 23 (2015) 21

Fig 3.3: Test Results for the month of June 2015 (2015) 24

Fig 3.4: Test Results for the month of December 2015 (2015) 25

Appendix A

Fig A.1: Test Report Acknowledgement by the Buyer (H&M), 48

Jan 22 to Feb 02, 2015

Fig A.2: Test Report Acknowledgement by the Buyer (H&M), 49

Dec 10 to Dec 23 2015

Appendix B

Fig B.1: Flow Diagram of a typical combined physico-chemical 50

and biological treatment plant in Bangladesh

Fig B.2: Flow Diagram for a typical physico-chemical treatment plant 51

in Bangladesh

Fig B.3: Flow Diagram of a typical biological treatment plant in Bangladesh 51

Fig B.4: Process Block Diagram 52

(Chemical ETP of Vision Group)
Fig B.5: Process Block Diagram 53
(Biological-chemical ETP of United Apparels)

Fig B.6: Example of Diversion Facility 54

Fig B.7: Example two-stage neutralization process 54

Fig B.8: The main elements of an activated sludge plant 55

 Abstract
Bangladesh was well known as the largest producer and exporter of jute since the 17th
century. However, the country is now known as one of the leading exporters of ready-made
garments in the world. The country and its people have shown dramatic progress and have
expressed it to the world that, the country is well underway in achieving the title of a
middle income country in mere future. The textile and garments industry holds up to
81.71% of the total exports and has created almost 4 million workers in the country. The
success of the textile and garments industry has brought forward many entrepreneurs in
setting up their own businesses and be a part of this fruitful industry. These new
companies in comparison to the old ones emerged in a drastic and unplanned fashion. They
resulted in employment for the people, but most of these ambitious and motivated business
people have been careless in learning the fact that the nature is one of the most valuable
assets for Bangladesh. The factories are involved in rigorous activities for preparation of
products for the foreign buyers and the effluents generated as a by-product, containing
various harmful chemicals and suspended solids are released to these rivers every day.
Thus, this paper tries to bring forward the benefits that the textile and garments industry
would attain through proper operations of the Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP). The textile
and garments industry in Bangladesh still lacks in proper knowledge on choosing the
correct ETP and how to routinely operate them. This study tries to investigate the
importance of ETP on textile and garments industry in Bangladesh economy by providing
some basic knowledge on ETP. This study also focuses on the various initiatives and
practices adopted by different textile and garments companies in efficiently operating the
ETPs. There are detailed discussions on how managing and monitoring the different
operation units would result in cost reduction and help the industry in routinely running
the ETP. It is crucial for the textile and garments industry to understand that, immediate
awareness needs to be raised on using the already existing ETPs by companies. There are
so far no studies done on increasing the awareness of efficiently using the already existing
ETPs in the industry. Thus, this study tries to encourage the companies by sharing some of
the initiatives and practices which are feasible for companies to adopt and consider the
ETP as an integral part of its operation. It is significant for the industry to understand that

Page | 1
operating the ETP on routine basis not only reduces the damage done to the environment,
but also results in reduction of costs for the industry and prove beneficial in various ways
for the industry and the country as a whole. A major benefit of efficiently operating the ETP
is in the form of gaining acknowledgement from the foreign buyers and thus resulting in
increasing exports of garments to the foreign market.

Page | 2
 Chapter 1: Introduction
Although the success story of Bangladesh’s textile sector and garments industry looks very
impressive, the industry has faced a lot of challenges in its journey to the top in the form of
working condition, safety and the compliancy of the environment in its waste management.
There have been quite a lot of discussions in recent times regarding the treatment of
effluent generated as by-product by the textiles and garments in their production process.
The dyeing factories especially in their processes are releasing wastes containing various
harmful chemical and dissolved solids and are damaging the water of the country and in
term the people’s health. Initiatives need to be taken immediately in making the companies
aware of the damage they are doing to the environment before it is too late. The damage is
mainly done to the rivers of the country as the factories are setup near them. Rivers like the
Buriganga, Shitalakkha, Balu, Turag and Bangshi are continuously being affected by the
textile industries, the tanneries of the Hazaribagh and the factories in Keranigonj continue
to discharge huge amount of wastes to the river and degrading it every day (Islam et al
2015). It can also be observed that most of the pollution parameters in the textile areas are
beyond the national standards and immediate attention needs to be paid in treating them.
The Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) thus, is designed to treat these generated wastes or
effluent that the companies generate in their production processes and to control the
damage done to the environment. The treatment process of the ETP can be chosen to be
chemical, biological or a combination of both depending on the effluent characteristic. The
effluent treatment plant (ETP) remains engaged in restricting the pollution parameters to
the national standards through these treatment processes and also try to increase the
Dissolved oxygen (DO) in the treated water. The treatment process is meant to cut down
costs for the industries as the idea is to reuse the treated water. Thus, recycling and
conservation would prove beneficial for them.
Few studies (among others Sultan et al 2013) have focused on implementation of the
Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP). Other studies are done on monitoring and maintaining the
ETP’s operation (Khan et al. 2006). But there are no studies done on raising awareness of
efficiently using the already existing ETPs in the busy textile and garment industry. It is
significant to make the industry aware of the fact that, treating the ETP as an external part

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of its operation would only make the treatment process a burden for them. There are
various benefits of treating the ETP as an integral part of their production processes.
Simple initiatives and practices in operating the ETP can result not only in cost reduction
for the company, but also improve the company’s public image, draw more prospective
international buyers towards the industry, set up an example for other industries and even
encourage the government in increasing its efforts in protecting the environment. Mithun
(2012) showed that the biological treatment plant is more efficient and cost effective
compared to the combined biological-chemical and individual chemical treatment plants,
although biological treatment does have disadvantages like high initial investment and
requires a large land area. Despite all these shared information on how to operate and
choose the ETP, immediate attention is still required in encouraging the industry to learn
more about the ETP and its characteristics and to operate the existing ETPs efficiently
whether it is a biological or chemical treatment ETP. There are local and foreign companies
who are motivated and adopting effective practices in increasing the efficiency and
reducing operating costs for their ETPs. These initiatives and practices can be in the form
of a team approach, out sourcing of the ETP operations, public-private partnership in
reducing cost of chemicals and equipment for the ETP and internal reward system in
companies for efficient waste management. We also highlight some other promising
practices, which are proven to be effective for companies in efficiently operating the ETP.
Learning about such companies, their perspective in operating the ETPs and their effort in
reducing the damage done to the environment can set an example for the entire industry.
According to the World Trade Statistics 2015, China still holds the title of the top exporter
in the world, with a 38.6% share of the global market. EU has become the second largest
exporter with 26.2% share of the global market. Bangladesh holds 5% and has retained the
third place. Vietnam with the low cost benefit, under the 12 country Trans-Pacific
partnership holds 4%; India holds a share of 3.70% and Turkey holds 3% share of the
global world. Myanmar has recorded 123% garment exports (more than $8 million in the
beginning of 2015). Ready-made garments export from Vietnam to US has increased to $
700 million (by 16.5%) and India’s has grown to $1.4 billion (9.82%). Thus, it can be
clearly observed how the competition level in the global market is increasing for
Bangladesh. The country is likely to face more emerging challenges from Myanmar and
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Ethiopia, who with a low wage garments market are continuing to increase their exports to
the foreign market.
A recent World Bank study (2014) has concluded that, if the garments industry of
Bangladesh is able to capture 20% of China’s apparel export attrition, there will be 5.4
million new jobs and a $29 billion increase in export volume. According to McKinsey’s
survey 2011, 86% of the chief purchaser’s in Europe and America are planning to cut down
sourcing from China due to low profit margins and capacity. They consider Bangladesh as
the next hotspot. But in order to do this, Bangladesh needs to work on its environmental
and work place safety issue to receive more attention from the international buyers. The
buyers would only continue to pay more attention and give priority to the country as long
as it abides by the international environment standards and the only way to retain a fair
image of a country is by controlling its effect on the environment. Under the Environmental
Conservation Rules 1997, industrial projects are classified into four categories based on
environmental impact and location (Green, Orange A, Orange B and Red). The fabric dyeing
and chemical industry in Bangladesh falls under Red. The Act and Environmental Rules
(1997) also states that, it is mandatory for textile industries to setup an ETP to treat the
waste before it is released to the environment. Furthermore, in order to get an
environmental clearance certificate; these industries need to submit their ETP project and
plans to the Department of Environment for assessment and approval.
Although there have been initiatives by the government and some of the companies in the
textile industry to adopt the Effluent Treatment. It has been estimated according to a report
at the 3rd Annual Conference of the Green Growth Knowledge Platform (2015) that, there
are only 812 ETPs installed in the manufacturing units (2014) and out of the ones with the
ETP, most lack knowledge of running it efficiently. They hesitate to run the ETPs regularly
for high operating costs and look at it as an external operation. Thus concern remains on
meeting the “Quality Standards for Classified Industries” created by the foreign buyers, as
well as the government. Companies like Adidas, H&M, Wal-Mart, Levis, GAP, NIKE, US Polo,
American Eagle and many more are doing strict monitoring of the production conditions
before buying. They do thorough checking if the company is meeting the environment
standards and has the proper working conditions. Such an example of international buyer’s
acknowledgement can be observed from the case study of a company in Bangladesh named
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Vision Group. The list of their clients includes brands such as H&M, NEXT, Tom Taylor and
more. Detailed monitoring of international buyers can be observed in their
acknowledgement reports.
Therefore, in order to take a step forward to meet the national development goal and to
attain an eco-friendly industrial growth, this study focuses on how the textile and garments
industry would be better of considering the effluent treatment plant as an integral part of
their daily industrial process. The common complain observed in the textile and garments
industry is with high operating costs of the ETPs. Thus, this study further discusses in
detail, how through different initiatives the operating costs of ETPs can be lowered, there
are discussions on the effectiveness of the ETP in reducing the harm done to the
environment and human health, there are tips provided in this study on choosing the
correct ETP and its installation process, and the case studies in this paper show simple
initiatives adopted by companies on running the ETP and how the initiatives have cut down
costs and have proven beneficial. If proper attention is paid by the textile and garments
industry to all these factors, then eventually the industry would contribute in creating an
eco-friendly Bangladesh. We need to realize the fact that, even if it costs a bit in running
these plants initially we are making an investment in conserving our future.
This paper is based upon 6 chapters, and as it has been observed from the very beginning it
tries to provide the readers with a clear understanding of the significance of the Effluent
Treatment Plant (ETP) in the textile and garments industry. The introduction and research
objective has already been presented in Chapter 1, and Chapter 2 which is to follow is
based on providing a clear idea about the ETP, the different types of ETPs and the different
treatment processes involved in the ETPs. The order of the treatment processes, the
differences between the chemical and biological units, followed by an understanding of the
pollution parameters in different industrial regions in the country are also discussed in this
chapter. The case studies have been presented in Chapter 3, where an analysis is done on
the efficiency of a Chemical ETP and a Biological- Chemical ETP located in two of the most
polluted industrial regions in the country. The installation and running costs, the economic
and efficiency perspective of the different ETPs are also discussed in this chapter. In
Chapter 4, the lessons we have learnt from the case studies have been shared, followed by
practices and initiatives which have been proven to be and will most likely prove to be
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beneficial for the industry are all discussed in detail. Chapter 5 reviews the different
chemical and biological process units, and how these processes can be efficiently carried
out. Chapter 6 is the final chapter, and it brings forward the common difficulties faced by
the textile and garments industry in running the ETPs in Bangladesh, the initiatives taken
by the government in encouraging the use and installation of the ETPs, followed by the
conclusion of the study.

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 Chapter 2: Effluent Treatment Plant
We begin with the detailed definition of Effluent Treatment Plant.
2.1 Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP)
The textile industries generate huge volume of water-based waste containing various
chemicals used in dyeing, printing and various chemical processes. This effluent created in
these processes is well beyond the national standard and are highly harmful for the
environment (especially, dyeing causes intense coloring of water). The main source of
water pollution in the textile industry is the chemical/wet processing. The water
consumption components of this process includes, desizing 1%, scouring 2%, printing 2%,
bleaching 3%, mercerizing 4%, finishing 5%, dyeing 13% and the rest is the other washing
operations. Such processes from the industries end up contributing huge quantity of toxic
effluent containing colors, sodium sulphate and sodium hydroxide. The effluent treatment
plant is designed to treat these generated wastes or effluent. Although the treatment varies
depending on the type of effluent but some techniques such as, coagulation, flocculation,
aeration etc, are commonly used for treatment. The effluent produced by the textile
industry mainly has high pH, Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand
(COD), Total Soluble Solids (TSS), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) and undesired color. (See
Appendix A for definition of parameters, page 46 and 47). It can be observed from the
Table 2.1 and 2.2, which is placed below that most of the untreated effluents recorded from
the wet processing and fabric processing do not satisfy the national standards.
The effluent treatment plant (ETP) remains engaged in restricting these parameters to the
national standards and also increase the Dissolved oxygen (DO) in the treated water. The
treatment process is meant to cut down costs for the industries as the idea is to reuse the
treated water. The industry on regular basis has to pay heavy taxes for using the water
from the rivers or lakes for their production processes. Thus, recycling and conservation
would prove beneficial for them. According to the Act and Environmental Rules (1997), it is
also compulsory for the textile dyeing factories to install ETPs for the treatment of waste
water.

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 Table 2.1: Effluent Characteristics of Various Wet Textile Processing Operations
Process Effluent pH (6-9) COD (mg/L) (200 BOD (mg/L) (50
mg/L) mg/L)
1. Desizing 5.83-6.50 10,000-15000 1700-5200
2. Scouring 10-13 1200-3300 260-400
3 Bleaching 8.5-9.6 150-500 50-100
4 Mercerizing 8-10 100-200 20-50
5 Dyeing 7-10 1000-3000 400-1200
Wash Effluent pH (6-9) COD (mg/L) (200 BOD (mg/L) (50
mg/L) mg/L)
1 After Bleaching 8-9 50-100 10-20
2 After Acid Rinsing 6.5-7.60 120-250 25-50
3 After dyeing (hot wash) 7.5-8.5 300-500 100-200
4 After dyeing (Acid & soap wash) 7.5-8.64 50-100 25-50
5 After dyeing (Final wash) 7-7.8 25-50
6 Printing Wash 8-9 250-450 115-150
7 Blanket washing of Rotary 7-8 100-150 25-50
Printer
Source: Department of Environment, DoE, Bangladesh, 2015

Table 2.2: Effluent Characteristics of Untreated Effluent from Processing of Fabric and DOE
Standards for Waste for Discharge into an Inland Surface Water Body.
Parameters Units Typical Values DoE Standards for
Waste from Industrial
Units
1. Appearance Colloidal
2. pH 8-10 6-9
3 Color Intensely
Colored
4 Heavy Metals mg/l 10-15 Varies depending on
metal types
5 Suspended Solids (SS) mg/l 200-300 150
6 Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) mg/l 5000-6000 2100
7 Chemical Oxygen Demand mg/l 1500-1750 200
(COD)
8 Bio-chemical Oxygen mg/l 500-600 50
Demand (BOD)
9 Oil & Grease mg/l 40-60 10
Source: Department of Environment, DoE, Bangladesh, 2015

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2.2 Useful Tips and Technology before Setting up an ETP
It is important to have a clear understanding of the ETP before choosing to set up one.
Thus, this subsection provides with few useful tips before setting up an ETP and the
technology to use in the ETPs.
a) Some of the useful tips are as follows:
i) Selecting the appropriate place- The ETP should not be set up close to the wells or
reservoirs of drinking water, wet lands or water discharge zones.
ii) A Design Efficient Treatment plant: Choosing a wasted place or idle place would result in
saving land. This could be land which is idle and not being used for any industrial process.
iii) Choosing an appropriate water treatment technology- Studying the effluent type,
characteristic and volume can help adopting the ideal technology needing for treatment.
b) Some of the technologies in brief:
i) Electrolysis- It is used to treat waste water with dissolved pollutants in it and is
economical and sustainable.
ii) Bioreactor- It is commonly used for industrial and municipal waste treatment processes.
iii) Ion Exchange- It is one of the best water treatment technologies and is used to treat
contaminated water with dissolved impurities.
iv)Thermal Hydrolysis- It is used to produce biogas, by breaking down of organic
materials that give out bio-degradable materials.
v) Chemical Treatment- The characteristic of impurities need to be understood and
analyzed before using this treatment. These chemicals are usually safe and very efficient.
2.3 Defining the Typical Types of ETP
After learning about few useful tips and technologies before choosing to step up an ETP,
this subsection is going to define the typical types of ETP present in the textile and
garments industry. There are three types of ETP in general. They are the biological
treatment plant, physico-chemical treatment plant, and the combined physic-chemical and
biological treatment plant. This section defines these typical types of ETP. (See Figure B.1,
B.2 and B.3 in Appendix B, page 50 and 51).
a) Biological Treatment plant: The design of such a plant typically includes screening,
equalization, pH control, aeration, and settling. These can restrict BOD, pH, TSS, oil and

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grease requirements. But due to toxicity of the industrial effluent to the microorganisms,
there is necessity for pretreatment. Especially in the case of dyes which are complex
chemicals.
b) Physico-chemical treatment plant: This typically includes screening, equalization, pH
control, chemical storage tanks, mixing unit, flocculation unit, settling unit and sludge
dewatering. Through this treatment, it is difficult to reduce BOD and COD, and it is not
possible to remove TDS and maintain the national standard. It is effective in removing
colour from the processes.
c) Combined physico-chemical and biological treatment plant: This is the most common
treatment found in the textiles. The physico-chemical treatment usually comes before the
biological treatment units. The typical components are screening, equalization, pH control,
chemical storage, mixing, flocculation, primary settling, aeration and secondary settling.
This combination helps to restrict the pollutants according to the national standards.
2.4 The Typical Treatment Steps of the Effluent Treatment Plant
The type and design of ETP depend on the quantity and quality of the effluent. Other factors
involve the capital availability for construction, operation and maintenance, and also the
space or land available for the setup of the plant. The treatment basically falls under the
category of physical, chemical or biological mechanism. The levels of treatment can be
described in four steps, which are presented in Figure 2.1 below.

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 Fig 2.1: The four different stages of effluent treatment.

Preliminary or physical

Removal of large solids, that results in damage to equipment or operational problems. E.g.
rags, sticks, grit and grease.

Primary or Physical and Chemical

Removal of suspended solids and organic matter.

Secondary or Biological and Chemical

Removal of suspended solids and biodegradable organic matter.

Tertiary or Physical, Chemical and Biological

Removal of residual suspended solids or dissolved solids.

2.5 Defining the Different Unit Operations:

The different unit operations involved in the different level of treatment processes is
important to be defined. Thus, this subsection focuses on the different unit operations
involved in the treatment processes such as the physical, chemical and biological unit.
i) Physical Unit Processes: Most of these operations include screening, flow equalization,
sedimentation, clarification and aeration. These processes are defined below:

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a) Screening: This helps in removing large solids such as cloth, which has the possibility of
reducing the efficiency of the effluent treatment plant. It basically is a screen with uniform
openings to restrict large solids from passing.
b) Flow Equalisation: This unit acts by collecting and storing wastes, in order for it to mix
and become regular in quality before the time of pumping to the treatment units at a
constant rate. The hourly variation of flow is required for determining the volume of an
equalization tank.
c) Sedimentation and Filtration: Sedimentation Flocculation is a process through which
fine particles are made to gather together in the form of a floc. This floc can then be found
floating at the top of the liquid, settle at the bottom or can be ready to be filtered from the
liquid. Thus sedimentation is the process of collecting these large flocks settling at the
bottom. The tank where the process occurs is known as the sedimentation tank. It also
removes suspended solids, grits, in order to make the sludge produced in the biological
treatment plant thicker and also to create clarified effluent.
d) Aeration: This is mainly required in biological treatment processes for supplying oxygen
to the microorganisms for breaking down the organic waste. The two main methods or this
are the mechanical agitation of water and the introducing of air into the tank through
diffusers. Mechanical agitation usually refers to the entering of air into the water from the
atmosphere.
ii) Chemical Unit Processes: These include pH control, coagulation, chemical precipitation
and oxidation. The processes are defined below:
a) pH Control: This process is significantly important for biological treatment as the
microorganisms used here require a pH in the range of 6 to 8, otherwise they will not
survive. The textile industries use large quantities of alkali in processes like dyeing and
acids in washing processes. Thus it is essential for a pH control. For alkaline wastes, with
high pH Hydrochloric acid is preferably used or may be sulphuric acid is used, for acids it is
just the opposite.
b) Coagulation and Flocculation: This process is basically a collection of a large mass; the
moment solid particles are spreading in a liquid. In order to form flocs, chemical coagulants
such as aluminum sulphate or ferric sulphates are added to waste water. Gentle mixing
helps the process by increasing particle collision.
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iii) Biological Unit Process: This is a process of using microorganisms, mainly bacteria to
feed on the effluent released by the textile processes. This process results in breaking the
complex compounds of effluents into less hazardous compounds. The process mainly
requires increasing of microorganisms. The plant needs to be carefully managed as live
organisms are used in the process. Pretreatment usually chemical or physical is used to
reduce the toxicity of waste water. Monitoring of pH is significant of the survival of
microorganisms. It needs to be operated throughout the year, 24/7 in order to feed the
bacteria with effluent and to provide oxygen for its survival. There are two main processes
in the biological plant: Activated Sludge or the suspended microbial growth and the Fixed
Film or the attached microbial growth. The tank used for this process is called the reactor.
Below in table 2.3, the characteristics of the Activated Sludge and the Fixed Film (both
traditional and modern) are presented.
Table 2.3: Differences between the Activated Sludge and the Fixed Film

Activated Sludge The Fixed Film

i) System microbes grow as flocs.
ii) Activated sludge gets out of the
reactor along with the treated
effluent and is settled in the
clarifier.
iii) From the clarifier it returns to the
aeration unit where recycling of
bacteria takes place.
iv) Most of the activated sludge is
recycled, and the rest is disposed
of.
v) Settling and recycling of activated
sludge is vital and the process is
difficult.
Source: Author (2016)
Microbial population grows as a thin layer.
Traditional:
i) It is known as biological filter/
percolating filter.
ii) Biological filter effluent gets sprayed on
top of the medium which trickles into a
packed bed, while oxygen enters from the
air. Microbial growth occurs via small
stones.
iii) Requires large land.
iv) No recycling of biomass.
Modern:
i) Microbes grow on plastic supports.
ii) The plastic is submerged in the effluent
and air is blown into the reactor.
iii) Submerged film reactors need less land.
Fixed films require final clarifier in order to remove
bio-film particles, which get detached from the
medium.

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2.6 Effluent Treatment Plant Scenario in Bangladesh
Under the Environmental Conservation Rules 1997, industrial projects are classified into
four categories based on environmental impact and location (Green, Orange A, Orange B
and Red). The fabric dyeing and chemical industry in Bangladesh falls under Red. The Act
and Environmental Rules (1997) also states that, it is mandatory for textile industries to
setup an ETP to treat the waste before it is released to the environment. Furthermore, in
order to get an environmental clearance certificate; these industries need to submit their
ETP project and plans to the Department of Environment (DOE) for assessment and
approval. It has been estimated according to a report at the 3rd Annual Conference of the
Green Growth Knowledge Platform (2015) that, there are only 812 ETPs installed in the
manufacturing units (2014) and out of the ones with the ETP, most lack knowledge of
running it efficiently. They hesitate to run the ETPs regularly for high operating costs and
look at it as an external operation. Thus concern remains on meeting the “Quality
Standards for Classified Industries” created by the foreign buyers, as well as the
government. Companies like Adidas, H&M, Wal-Mart, Levis, GAP, NIKE, US Polo, American
Eagle and many more are doing strict monitoring of the production conditions before
buying. They do thorough checking if the company is meeting the environmental standards
and has the proper working conditions. Therefore, it can be seen how significant it is for
the textile and garments industry to adopt the use of ETP immediately.
2.7 The Impact of Textile and Garments Industry on the Environment and Area
Wise Variation in Parameters in Bangladesh
The recent unplanned and rapid growth of the textile and garments industry has had
significant impact on the environment through harmful and untreated wastes. The damage
is mainly done to the rivers of the country as the factories are setup near them. Rivers like
the Buriganga, Shitalakkha, Balu, Turag and Bangshi are continuously being affected by the
textile industries, the tanneries of the Hazaribagh and the factories in Keranigonj continue
to discharge huge amount of wastes to the river and degrading it every day (Islam et al.,
2015). Dey et al. (2015) have shown that the textile industry ranks number 1, followed by
leather, sugar and the other industries. Thus, the challenge of the industry lies in coping
with these untreated wastewaters through maintaining parameters like, pH, Biological

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Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), TDS or the Total Dissolved Solids
and sometimes, heavy metals and color of effluent created from the production process.
Dey et al. (2015) provided a presentation on variations of parameters in terms of pH, TDS,
COD and BOD in areas such as Savar, Ashulia, Gazipur, Narayangonj, Dhaka, Kashimpur,
Hazaribagh, Chittagong, Pabna, Sylhet and Narshindi. It is important to know that, the
national standard for pH is 6-9, TDS is 2100 mg/l, DO is greater than or equal to 4.5 and
between 8, BOD is 50 mg/L, COD is 200mg/L, and EC is 1200 (µ/cm). The following data of
the parameters are for the year 2013.
a) pH: Savar, Narayangonj, Chittagong and Pabna, all 4 areas had the highest ph value of 11.
On the other hand, Hazaribagh and Sylhet had the lowest of 4.5.
b) Total Dissolved Solids (TDS): Hazaribagh and Sylhet had the highest TDS value of 5240
mg/L, followed by Savar with 3380 mg/L and Ashulia with 3552 mg/L. Narayangong with
1011 mg/L and Gazipur with 1006 mg/L had the lowest level of TDS.
c) Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD): Sylhet had the highest value of 1850 mg/L followed by
Narayongonj and Pabna each with 1275 mg/L. Savar had the lowest value of 768 mg/L.
d) Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD): Sylhet and Hazaribagh had the highest value of 620
mg/L, followed by Dhaka with 480 mg/L and Narayangong with 450 mg/L. Gazipur had the
lowest value of 410mg/L.
It can be easily observed from the shared data, that most of the parameters in the textile
areas are beyond the national standards and installation and regular operations of the
existing ETPs in these areas are very significant.

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 Chapter 3: Case Study
Case studies are desirable when in-depth investigation or qualitative analysis is needed for
the development of any sector both for developing and developed countries (Jamasb et al.,
2014). Mithun (2012), performed an analysis on the economic and efficiency perspective of
the physico-chemical, biological, and combined bio-chemical. From the data provided by
TEXMAC (BANGLADESH) LIMITED, it is found that the space required for biological
treatment plant is 4000-5000 sqft (cost Tk 3-3.5 crore), physical-chemical is 1500-2000
sqft (Tk 55-65 lacs) and combined bio-chemical is 2000-2500 sqft (Tk 75- 90 lacs). The
total running cost for the biological treatment is 4-5 Tk/m3, for physico-chemical is 18-25
Tk/m3, combined physico-chemical and biological unit is 20-28 Tk/m3 and biological
chemical is 15-20 Tk/m3. Therefore, total running costs of the physico- chemical and
combined method is almost 5 to 6 times higher than biological method, but the installation
cost and space requirement for the biological treatment plant compared to the others is
significantly higher. The costs of running for the physical chemical and combined treatment
plant can be lessened through various initiatives and techniques, which are discussed in
later part of the paper. Similarly, there are also scopes for reducing the installation cost and
space requirement for the biological treatment plant through modern engineering. But the
most important observation found in the textile and garments industry is that, many
businesses are still not properly aware of all this information and are often misguided by
the local agents in choosing to setup an ETP. It is worth noting that the ETPs need to be
chosen depending on the effluent characteristic. For example: a company with a small
volume of effluent outflow from the washing unit and a small land area, will be better off
choosing a chemical ETP with a greater capacity of inflow of effluent. This will help the
company in terms of installation cost and even reasonable running costs. Choosing a
biological ETP will be not be of much avail for such a company and will only generate a
large installation cost. The case studies done in the following sections represent such
examples of companies.
In case of analyzing the efficiency, Mithun (2012) was able to reach a conclusion that
biological treatment process proved to be the most efficient in treating the effluent from
the industries. For BOD, the average efficiency of biological treatment is 84%, and

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combined chemical and biological is 71%. For TSS, biological treatment is 81.7% efficient
on average and combined treatment is 53.401%. The average TDS efficiency is significantly
higher for biological treatment with 54.8% and 2.6% for combined process as the
combined process itself uses chemical in treating the effluent. Therefore, it can be deduced
from the provided data that the efficiency of the biological treatment is higher in tackling
most of the parameters. But, the treatment through biological plant is not completely free
of disadvantages. The biological treatment does require high retention time, at least 12 to
24 hrs for COD, less or equal to 1000 mg/L and 72 hrs for 1500-2000 mg/L. Color removal
which may not be included in the Environment Conservation Rules (1997), but
international buyers are increasing color concerns in the treatment process and setting
discharge standards for it. The color unlike other pollutants is clearly visible and therefore
is responsible for the public perception of the company. Thus, a combined physico-
chemical and biological treatment comes useful for the color treatment unlike biological
treatment.
After all the analysis, it can be comprehended that it is important for the companies to
know their effluent characteristics and discuss it with experts on effectively treating it.
They should have proper knowledge regarding the different types of ETP and how each
operates. These would surely help the companies in choosing the appropriate treatment
plant and in operating it effectively.
3.1 Case Study on Vision Group
Let us look at Vision Group’s modern chemical treatment plant used in their washing unit.
Vision group is a leading manufacturer and exporter of woven and knit apparels with
turnovers of around US 70 million dollars annually. The company’s buyers include H&M,
Next, Springfield and more. The entire installment cost of the plant was Tk 72,00,000,
taking a land space of 200.67 sqm. The monthly salary of the employee (Total 5) at the
treatment plant combined is Tk 72,000 per month and cost of using chemical is about Tk 3,
50,000 on average. The average cost of chemicals for using a chemical treatment plant is
observed to be close to Tk 5,00,000 on average, but choosing a chemical ETP with higher
inflow effluent capacity than the outflow capacity of the washing unit has helped the

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company in efficiently operating the plant. (See Table B.2 and B.3 in Appendix B, page 57
and 58).
3.1.1 Process Description
The effluent is collected in Equalization Tank-1 & 2 (EQT) by gravity where it is equalized
with respect to its characteristics and flow with the help of air blowing.
The equalized effluent is then pumped to a Flash Mixing Tank (Earlier Flocculation tank)
followed by a Flocculation Tank (Earlier Tube Settler Tank). The chemicals lime and alum
are dosed in the Flash Mixing Tank to aid coagulation, the flash mixer mechanism help the
systems to mix the chemical with effluent properly. An anionic polyelectrolyte (type - I) is
dosed in the Flocculation Tank to aid in the agglomeration of the particles and its start
forming flocs with help of slow moving Flocculator mechanism. The formed flocs of
Flocculation Tank are removed in the downstream in latest efficient settling system named
Tube Settling, in Tube Settler Tank (it works by gravity).
The effluent will further flow by gravity to a pH correction Cum Clear Water tank where
requisite quantity of acid (HCl) will be dosed and pH will be adjusted as per the
requirement.
After the above primary treatment effluent will feed to Duel Media Filter (DMF) & followed
by Color Removal Unit (CRU) by pumps. The DMF will reduce Total Suspended Solids (TSS)
by cross filtration and CRU will reduce Balance Organic Load, BOD, COD, color etc. up to the
limit by Ion- Exchange Process. Special type anionic resins are applied in CRU. The CRU
needs regeneration once in every 24 hours. After that, the CRU outlet water will go to
Aeration Tank by gravity for gain DO as per design limit with help of air blowing. Than the
little NaOCl (for chlorination) are added by dosing pump to disinfect the water if required.
At this point the disinfected effluent is suitable for disposal.
The sludge generated from the Tube Settler Tank is taken in to the Sludge Tank by gravity,
and then it will pump to Centrifuge for dewatering by mechanically sunlight (User disposes
off the dewatered sludge suitably). (See Figure B.4 in Appendix B, page 52).
3.1.2 Analysis of Test Results
This section represents the analysis of the test results of Vision Group’s chemical ETP from
Jan 22 to Feb 02 (2015) and from Dec 10 to Dec 23 (2015).

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 Fig 3.1: Test Results for Jan 22 to Feb 02 (2015)

Parameters Inlet Outlet Percentage

Change

Total Suspended Solids (TSS) (mg/L) 28 9 67.8%

decrease

Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) (mg/L) 88 80 9.09%

decrease

Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD5) (mg/L) 34.4 10.6 69.2%

decrease

pH 7.5 7.2 4%

decrease

Color Bluish White

(DO level was recorded to be 4.6)

Description: For the test period, Jan 22 to Feb 02, the parameters of the treated water are
well within the national standards. The treatment process was fairly efficient in keeping
the parameters within national standards, especially the BOD and TSS was lowered with an
efficiency of over 60%. The DO level according to the test report was recorded to be 4.6

Page | 20
mg/L. There has been a slight increase in pH, but it is well within the national standards.
(See Figure A.1 in Appendix A, Page 48, for Buyer’s Acknowledgement).

Fig 3.2: Test Results for Dec 10 to Dec 23 (2015)

Parameters Inlet Outlet Percentage change

Total Suspended Solids 114 21 82.6% decrease

(TSS) (mg/L)

Dissolved Oxygen (DO) 1.22 4.87 53.3% increase

(mg/L)

Chemical Oxygen Demand 224 53.7 76.03% decrease

(COD) (mg/L)

Biochemical Oxygen 34.4 10.6 69.2% decrease

Demand (BOD5) (mg/L)

pH 7.2 7.4 2.78% increase

Color Bluish Colorless

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Description:
The above data and analysis is from the test period Dec 10 to Dec 23 (2015). It can be
observed that, the treated water shows significant changes in parameter and the
parameters are very well within the national standards at the outlet. There is an increase in
DO level to 4.87 mg/Land also; the bluish water at the inlet was treated to colorless water
at the outlet. The results also received the buyer’s (H&M) acknowledgement. The pollution
parameters have been treated with a higher efficiency compared to the previous test
reports, especially the TSS and COD level with 82.6% and 76.03%. There has been a slight
increase in pH level, but again it is well within the national standards. (See Figure A.2 in
Appendix A, page 49 for Buyer’s Acknowledgement).
3.1.3 Vision Group’s Project for Re-Using Treated Water from the ETP
It has been estimated by the company that, the ETP releases 450 m3 of treated water per
day to the environment (4,50,000 litre/day). The total number of workers in one out of the
two factory buildings is 2000. Considering, the workers visit the toilet 5 times on average
during working hours and an estimated average use of water per worker is 3.5 gallons for
the toilet flush. This result in 35000 gallons of water being used (2000 x 3.5 x 5). Since 1
gallon of water is 3.78 liter, the total usage of water in the toilet flush for the 2000 workers
on an average of 5 times per day is 1, 32,300 liter (number of gallons x 3.78). The project
which is already under way and is going to be finished by June 2016 is to use the treated
water from the ETP to fulfill the requirement of water for toilet flush.
The cost for utilizing the treated water in the toilet includes setting the pipe network which
costs Tk 500,000 and setting up of chlorination tank with a capacity of 50,000 liter which
costs Tk 300,000. The total cost estimated to be Tk 800,000. Chlorination is used in the
process to help reduce the unpleasant smell of the treated water, and not create any
discomfort for the workers in using it for toilet flushing. Since, the company uses ground
water for its dyeing processes and the cost of water for commercial use in Bangladesh
according to WASA is Tk 24.44 per 1000 liter. It is going to save lots of ground water usage
and will also cut down costs for the company in using water (Tk 3,233 per day). The
company intends to use this savings made in water usage for buying the chemicals needed
in the treatment processes of their ETP.

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3.2 Case Study on United Apparels
The second case study is on a company named United Apparels, located in Narayangong.
The garments company makes garment products for brands like Alcott from Italy, Ross and
Dicotomy from USA and Adler from Czech. The company has its biological - chemical
treatment plant (inflow of 40m3/hr), which was setup 7 years ago. Its installation cost was
approximately Tk 1crore, acquiring an area of 5400 sq metre. The running cost of this
biological chemical treatment plant includes Tk 35,000 for the employee and a monthly
chemical cost of Tk 4 to 5 Lakh. The company has been running the ETP consistently and
strongly believes in the significance of operating the ETP.
3.2.1 Process Description
The effluent generated from the washing unit at first enters the ETP at the Screening
chamber, where unwanted materials like polythene and dust particles are being separated
from the inflow. The solution then flows to the Equalisation Chamber, for color
equalization, aerobic smell treatment, temperature balance and reduction of the density of
the chemicals. The treatment process then continues through Flash Mixing, where
coagulant is added to break the color bone of the effluent into micro particles. After Flash
Mixing, Flocculation is carried out, where polyelectrolyte is added to the micro particles to
form flocs. Sludge thickening also takes place here. The treated liquid then flows to the
Primary Clarifier which has two outlets, eventually resulting in Fresh water and the Sludge.
But before that when the solution enters the Primary Clarifier, the heavier particles sink
down in the primary clarifier and the floating water reaches the Aeration tank where the
bacteria is cultured to treat the TDS, other heavy metals and increase the DO level. A
blower is also used in the Aeration tank to help oxidize the unabsorbed inorganic particles.
In order to reduce chemical costs 10% to 20% of the chemicals containing carbon,
hydrogen and sulphur from the flocculation chamber is transferred to the aeration tank for
feeding the bacteria. The treated solution then flows to the Secondary Clarifier for
sedimentation. A pump is used here, to return the bacteria to the Aeration Tank to retain
the culture of bacteria. The final step is the Filtration of the solution and then the solution is
released to the outlet. For the Sludge, which was previously generated at the primary
clarifier can be collected and disposed of. (See Figure B.5 in Appendix B, page 53).

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3.2.2 Analysis of Test Results
This section represents the analysis of the test results of United Apparel’s biological-
chemical ETP for the month of June (2015) and December (2015).
Fig 3.3: Test Results for the month of June 2015 (2015)

Parameters Inlet Outlet Percentage

change

Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) (mg/L) 2050 1071 47.76%

decrease

Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) (mg/L) 252 21 91.70%

decrease

Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) (mg/L) 96 8 91.70%

decrease

pH 7.44 7.72 3.76%

increase

Dissolved Oxygen (DO) (mg/L) 0 6.9 increase

** The report on the parameters has been provided by the DoE. Color of the treated water was reported to be
colorless.

Description: The test result obtained for the month of June 2015 shows that the treatment
process was highly effective in treating the effluent in terms of COD, BOD and DO. The TDS

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decreased by 47.76%, COD reduced by 91.70% and BOD was reduced with an efficiency of
91.70%. The treated parameters were well within the national standards, although there
has been a slight increase in pH.

Fig 3.4: Test Results for the month of December 2015 (2015)

Parameters Inlet Outlet Percentage

change

Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) (mg/L) 550 778 41.40%

increase

Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) (mg/L) 604 43 92.90%

decrease

Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) (mg/L) 222 16 92.80%

decrease

pH 7.11 7.31 2.81%

increase

Dissolved Oxygen (DO) (mg/L) 0 6.9 increase

** The report on the parameters has been provided by the DoE. Color of the treated water was reported to be
colorless.

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Description: The treatment report for the month of December 2015 shows that the COD was
lowered with an efficiency of 92.90% and BOD was lowered with an efficiency of 92.80%.
DO level increases from 0 to 6.9, but the TDS seemed to increase by 41.40% this is due to
the use in chemicals in the treatment process. The slight increase in pH level is also due to
the use of chemicals in the treatment process.

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 Chapter 4: Key Findings and Initiatives Regarding the Usage
of ETP
The companies for the case studies was chosen, as they are located in two of the most
polluted industrial regions in Bangladesh (Savar and Narayongonj) and their initiatives can
help set an example for other companies in the region.
4.1 Lessons Learnt from the Case Studies
In case of Vision Group’s ETP, the physical chemical treatment has showed significant
improvement in test results in the month of December, if we compare it with the test
results at the beginning of the year. When the Manager of the company and the Supervisor
of the ETP were interviewed, both of them shared excellent and up-to-date knowledge of
their treatment plant. They specifically mentioned that having an ETP with a greater
capacity of effluent inflow (50m3/hr) than the regular outflow of effluent from their
washing units (20m3/hr), has been a key factor in their ETP’s efficiency level. They
mentioned that identifying the effluent characteristics and especially after introducing jar
testing on a routine basis helped control the dose rate for coagulant/ flocculant and have
increased the efficiency of the plant. This is good example of a team approach where there
is proper sharing of knowledge regarding the ETP among company officials. The company
is highly motivated and working on using the treated water for use in their rest rooms for
flushing to reduce usage of water and cut down water usage costs. They no longer look at
the ETP as just a treatment process but also a significant part of their production process
and operate it routinely.
For United Apparels, the biological- chemical treatment plant was setup almost 7 years
back, but the test results show very impressive performance in keeping the parameters
well within the national standards. In an interview with the Managing Director of the
company and the supervisor of the ETP, it was learnt that the garments company found it
challenging to continue running the ETP 24hrs initially, as the chemical costs were quite
high (Tk 5 to 7 Lakh per month). The company also had difficulties initially in controlling
the waste parameters. After consulting it with the suppliers of the chemical they learnt
that, their ETP needed some modifications. The company’s first step was to focus on the

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volume of effluent released from the washing unit. Through monitoring, they were able to
figure out that the washing unit was using large quantities of chemicals in there production
process and releasing a huge volume of waste water, liquor ratio of 1:8. This was later
reduced to approximately 1:5 and according to the company officials; they also tried to cut
down the excessive use of chemicals in their washing unit. Following the first step, the
company focused on some modifications which would help them in monitoring the
parameters for waste treatment. Digital meters were installed at the inlet and outlet of the
ETP to keep track of the effluent parameters entering the ETP from the washing units.
There was especial monitoring on the bacteria retention time (a significant process in the
Aeration tank), which was not appropriately monitored by the previous supervisor
according to the company higher officials. The blower in the Aeration Unit had also to be
replaced. The company found it challenging to find a good ETP supervisor as there were
and there are still limited well trained supervisors in the region. The company later had to
hire a super visor who is also working on another treatment plant. The supplier of
chemicals (Waste Chemical Ltd) who helped the company with the consultancy on the ETP
also lowered the chemical costs from January 2016, which is currently helping the
company in cutting down its costs. Despite all the challenges faced by the company in
running the ETP, the company has succeeded in overcoming them and is running the ETP
effectively which is proven by the DoE test reports. The company strongly believes that
protecting the environment should be one of our first priorities and that there needs to be
more awareness in the region on operating the ETP. A simple mindset in considering the
ETP’s running cost as a part of regular production costs has encouraged them to overcome
the few challenges faced in operating the ETP effectively.
4.2 Benefits of Effective Management of Effluent
One of the common complaints from the textile and garments sector has been that,
operating an effluent treatment plant is very costly. Even, officials from the BGMEA have
mentioned in interviews that, a lot of companies are not operating their treatment plant in
regular basis for these running costs. The textile and garments sector really needs to
consider the effluent treatment plant as an integral part of its operations and not just a
medium of dependence. This will significantly maximize savings and also give opportunity

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for chemical and water re-use within the site. The first step in this adoption is through
understanding where and how the effluent generates. It is important to understand the
effluent composition and how the industrial process affects the plant. Everyone involved in
the industrial processes starting from operators, supervisors, engineers and managers
need to be aware of the industrial responsibilities. The Advanced Environmental
Technologies (Accepta) has come up with a Good Guidance Guide which brings forward
some of the key benefits in effective effluent management. The benefits can be as follows:
Cost Reduction: The most direct benefit through an effective effluent management would
result in reducing costs, lower energy consumption and increasing efficiency. The true cost
of effluent includes:
i) The value of raw materials and also the product lost in effluent.
ii) The cost of wasted product.
iii) Usage of treatment chemicals and water.
iv) Costs of operating pollution controlling equipment.
v) Waste disposal costs.
vi) Other costs related to violating the environmental laws, such as fines, legal fees, the cost
of fixing the pollution incidents, increased insurance premium etc.
Improvement in Company Image: Since, people are becoming more aware of the
environmental issues. Initiatives in taking care of the environment would result in setting
an example for other companies in the industry and gain more attention from foreign
buyers. In this process, bigger quantities of export to the foreign market can be made and
international recognition can be gained.
When the poor performance of the company is highlighted in public through media there
could be increase in costs. These costs are in recovering poor public perception which
involves public relation activities, advertising and marketing.
Compliance with the Environmental Laws: Since, the department of environment makes
routine visits to the ETPs and checks their discharge quality. Any violation of the standard
parameters would result in fine. There is a major concern in the industry of getting fines
and legal fees from such monitoring.
Minimization of Effects on the Environment: Protection of the environment should be
considered as one of the basic responsibilities for any industry. The country has been gifted
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by the nature with the rivers. It would be completely unwise to contaminate and destroy
them. We hold the responsibility to set an example for the future generations and not
burden them with our recklessness towards the environment.
4.3 Characterizing the Effluent
A detailed understanding of the nature and characteristics of the effluent, gives us an idea
in knowing what we are dealing with and in applying correct technology and treatment
processes. For example: if the measure is known to mix or separate particular waste
streams, it would be easier to treat them. The steps in doing so, is to start monitoring the
level of pollutants at certain places, characterizing the effluent, collecting existing
information, surveying the effluent stream and implementing a regular monitoring regime.
Places to Monitor:
i) Effluent reaching the treatment facility
ii) Creation of effluent from individual production areas
iii) Effluent from individual product manufacturing procedures;
iv) Effluent released from site
Characterizing the Effluent:
i) In terms of total quantity
ii) Temperature, flow rate, pH, COD and color
iii) The concentration and type of pollutants
iv) Concentration and variations, according to time and operating conditions
Collecting Existing Information:
i) The manuals of the ETP and process plants should be kept safe and understood
in case of future modification and understanding
ii) The data of the parameters of the treated water should be well documented and
kept as a record book for reviewing the performance of the plant
iii) List of information and laboratory analysis records (if available).
Surveying the effluent stream: Although, this step would be expensive but it results in
creating opportunity for segregation of different effluents. It could be carried out initially
focusing on the process identified as most polluting. It involves: planning, flow
measurement, sampling and analysis.

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Implementing a routine monitoring regime: A fixed monitoring system, which would
provide data on flows, loads and performance of the plant needs to be established. At the
initial level, daily collection and recording would be useful. The data is recommended to be
updated regularly and presented in a simple fashion for the understanding and help the
monitoring processes of operators, supervisors and managers.
4.4 Practices and Possible Initiatives That Help in Operating the ETP
It has been observed that the textile and garments industry in Bangladesh lacks in
awareness in routinely and efficiently operating the ETP, and the industry immediately
needs to adopt initiatives and practices that is going to help them in operating the ETP
routinely and efficiently. Thus, this section focuses on some of these initiatives and
practices.
i) A team approach: Everyone concerned with the production process starting from
operators, supervisors, engineers and managers should be aware of the environmental
responsibilities and should know that managing the effluent can bring them benefits in the
form of reduction in costs, improving public image, acknowledgement from the buyers and
more. The key lies in involving this team in a waste minimization programme and
identifying the effluent characteristics and quantity and scopes in reducing them.
ii) A local market for equipment and chemicals (PPP): Private-Public Partnership (PPP) can
also play a significant role in setting up and even running ETP by establishing equipment
and chemicals markets. PPP can also help ensuring the competitive market equilibrium
conditions within this sector. Cost of setting up the ETP varies greatly across the regions.
For example, price of ETP equipment and machineries in Bangladesh is significantly higher
than the European markets. Therefore, government intervention in ETP market to offer
equipment at lower prices is welcomed and would surely help the firms in properly
installing and maintaining ETPs. Such an initiative would not just help the companies in
reducing chemical costs, but also effectively operate the existing ETPs.
iii) Recognition from the government: The government in the country could often organize
awareness raising events involving the environmentalists, through which simple awards
can be given to companies who have stepped forward and adopted environmental friendly
approaches. This would greatly encourage the companies who made efforts in tackling

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waste management and would also raise awareness among the other companies, who are
yet to put in efforts.
iv)Encourage outsourcing of the effluent treatment requirements: Although the country is
far away from taking such an initiative and there are most likely no companies specialized
in this effluent management sector. But there is a scope for interested entrepreneurs or
even the government to encourage such specialized companies to get created. The benefits
would be in adjusting the investment costs for the ETP, use of fully trained and experienced
staff, greater assurance in tackling changing environmental laws and security requirements
of long- term operation. Such companies if established would also result in well-paid jobs
for people with appropriate knowledge in this field. E.g. Nipa Laboratories Ltd in the United
Kingdom contracted out their ETP requirements and enjoyed fair reduction in yearly costs.
v) Internal reward for effluent treatment: In order to reduce effluents generated from the
different production processes, higher officials in the company can initiate a simple reward
programme. For example, if the effluent generated in wet processing contains parameters
with lower values, it becomes easier for the ETP in treating these effluents and also cut
down chemical costs. Therefore, the employee involved in the washing units can be
encouraged in efficiently using chemicals and producing less volume of complicated wastes
through rewarding. Simple rewards can be provided depending on how efficiently the
production unit use chemicals and the nature and volume of the effluent that gets
generated. Such an approach can not only set an example for the companies in the industry,
but would also make the people more aware on protecting the environment.
vi) Re-using the treated water in rest rooms: An example of such an initiative has been
discussed in the case study on Vision Group. The company intends to cut down water usage
and costs of the rest rooms in flushing, by directing the treated water from the ETP into the
rest rooms. The installation cost of the setup for directing the treated water to the wash
rooms is fairly small and would result in consistent reduction of costs in water reduction
for the company. The treated water from the ETP could sufficiently be re-used at the rest
rooms for flushing and the cost reduction in water can be motivating for the company in
using the ETP regularly.
vii) Flow Segregation: Based on the characteristics of the different textile effluent, the
effluent can be divided into two types: highly polluted and less polluted streams. For
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instance, only biological treatment can be used to treat waste water with lower COD and
BOD and increase DO level. On the other hand, highly polluted streams can be treated using
both the physico-chemical and biological treatment. Effluents which are high in color and
also in suspended solids specifically need the chemical treatment. Therefore, the stages
which need physical-chemical treatment can be categorized as: scouring, hot wash,
neutralization, enzyme wash, dyeing, neutralization, softening and for biological treatment
they can be categorized as: rinsing, hot wash after rinsing and wash with fixing Agent.
Segregation of flow and knowing which treatment to use depending on the effluent
characteristics can save up extra costs of chemicals and also increase efficiency.
viii) Diversion Unit: Diversion unit is basically an essential but temporary storage facility. It
is used to control the unwarned or risky incidents such as: unexpected peaks, in strength,
flow or pH, unexpected spillages etc. This could be controlled automatically for example
through an on-line pH monitor or manually through an operator. Most diversions lead to a
pit or tank as different diversions may be essential in tackle different streams. Other uses of
the content in the diversion tank includes: using a return of effluent trickle to the effluent at
a suitable point for ETP, re-using the contents of the tank in the manufacturing process etc.
Once a company knows its effluent characteristic and has segregated its flow stream, a
diversion unit can be used to treat the effluent using the appropriate treatment processes,
whether chemical or biological. This can save up costs of chemicals. (See Figure B.6 in
Appendix B, page 54).
ix) System upgrades of equipment and collection: System upgrades can be made by
installing variable- frequency drives, upgrading to energy efficient motors, heating, cooling,
ventilation systems and installing energy efficient lighting systems. Variable-frequency
drive is an electronic controller which is used to adjust the speed of an electric motor by
means of controlling the delivers power. The result is a consistent control over the motor
speed according to the required energy demands. This variable- frequency drive can be
highly cost-effective and generates saving as well. Energy efficient motors would be a
better option than replacing the worn out motors with new ones on regular basis. This
would also save energy; decrease maintenance costs and protect the environment.
Upgrading heating, cooling, ventilation Systems would enhance energy efficiency and save
money while keeping the treatment operations suitable/comfortable. And by installing
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energy efficient lighting systems for indoor (advanced florescent lighting) and for outdoors
(high density discharge lighting) can save costs. Lighting controls such as, occupancy
sensors, dimming systems and time switches can also be made use to save energy.
x) Removing the Chlorination unit: In Bangladesh, at the final stage of treatment most
typical ETP has a chlorination unit. It is required to be understood that, chlorination is not
a Universal practice and effluent without getting chlorinated if released to the
environment, does not hold great risk to health. Instead it reduces installation and
operational costs for the industries. Some industries believe that chlorination is important
to get rid of the smell of the treated water, but this is only the case when the treated water
is used for some other purposes within the factory.

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 Chapter 5: Reviewing the Processes Involved in Effluent
Treatment
5.1 Reviewing the Preliminary Processes
This section is going to review the preliminary processes involved in effluent treatment.
Equalization process: The review process includes-
i) Checking the capacity if it is enough to provide a consistent flow rate.
ii) Adequate mixing in prevention of solid deposits and boost blending.
iii) Checking of the inlet and outlet is essential in preventing short-circuiting of the effluent.
iv) Ensuring that the effluent strength leaving the balancing tank is not greater than twice
the daily average value.
v) The usual operating volume has the capacity in handling flow surges.
Neutralization Process: Neutralization can be adjusted before the discharge or before the
biological process. This controlling of pH would be difficult without the maintenance of pH
and control systems. Effective pH controlling also requires a regular system of sensor
inspection and cleaning, ensuring there are enough back-up sensors in case of unexpected
faults, great care is needed when diluting strong acids before dosing (automatic dosing), if
possible using a 2 or 3 stage neutralization (this is essential for industries with a very
acidic inflow). (See Figure B.7 in Appendix B, page 54).
Acids used in this process are hydrochloric acid and sulphuric acid in most cases as carbon
dioxide is expensive. For Hydrochloric acid, limiting the chloride discharge is necessary as
it causes poor settling in the plant and it also causes corrosion problems. For sulphuric
acid, the insoluble precipitates formed, especially in presence of calcium could be limited to
avoid sewer damage and other treatment problems.
Alkalis that are used are Calcium hydroxide, calcium oxide (quicklime), calcium carbonate
(limestone), sodium carbonate, sodium hydroxide, magnesium hydroxide. Out of these
sodium hydroxide is most effective and widely used. Solubility of sodium hydroxide is
higher and available at various strengths. It makes pH control easier as it easier to store
and is measured into an effluent tank. Magnesium based alkalis hold advantage over
sodium hydroxide and lime as it lowers sludge volume, it is required in less amount for

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neutralization, pre-mixing is not required and it restricts release of highly alkaline
effluents.
5.2 Reviewing Physical/Chemical Processes
The physical/chemical processes involved in the effluent treatment are discussed in this
section.
Sedimentation: The performance of the settlement tank is affected through: Effluent flow,
sedimentation time, nature of the solid and sludge build-up.
a) Effluent flow and sedimentation time can be maintained through:
i) Ensuring enough effluent balancing is available upstream, to bring flow rate variations to
a minimum level in order to increase efficiency.
ii) The time of settlement at the flow into the tank determines the effectiveness of
separation.
Retention time should be greater than or equal to 2 hours:
RT (hrs) = Tank volume (m^3)/ Effluent flow rate (m^3/hr)
iii) Ultra Filtration Rate, UFR (m/hr) = Effluent flow rate (m^3/hr)/ tank surface area
(m^2).
For clarification and separation, UFR should be less than 1.8m/hr and average flow needs
to be less than 1.0 m/hr. For removal of activated sludge, UFR should be less than 1.5m/hr.
iv) For denser floc and reduction of settlement time, addition of coagulant/ polymeric
flocculant is necessary.
v) Precipitation process needs to be optimized by determining pH and chemical dosage
that allows good settlement of solids.
b) Nature of solids: In order to increase the rate of sludge removal from the settlement
tank, the production team is encouraged to report unusual discharges of suspended solids
so that measurements can be taken.
c) De-sludging programme: Reviewing this programme includes:
i) Installing an intermediate sludge storage tank is required, when dewatering plant needs
the sludge to be processed.
ii) Prevention of sludge gathering at the bottom is required to avoid problems with floating
sludge, development of septic conditions, maximization of settlement depth and volume.

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iii) Two to four times daily de-sludging of the tank would increase efficiency. For example,
an automated timed programme avoids the risk of odor release.
Dissolved Air Flotation: This process is basically used in removing suspended solids and
organic loads before biological treatment. For performance maximization and final effluent
quality, it is required to control coagulant/flocculant dosing rates, operate at the
appropriate degree of air saturation, operation at a steady flow rate, equipment need to be
maintained in good condition.
a) Controlling coagulant/flocculant dosing rates:
For ensuring appropriate levels of chemical addition monitoring is essential. Jar testing on
a routine basis is required to check the dose rate. Jar testing is basically, the addition of
chemicals to sample of effluents to determine the optimum type of dosing and mixing
conditions to achieve strong floc formation. Floc formation should be allowed for 5-20mins,
avoiding pumping or high-flow in-line mixing after addition.
b) Appropriate degree of air saturation: This can be measured using the values of dissolved
oxygen and temperature in standard saturation tables. Air saturators should be producing
pressured white water at 400-700kPa. This white water needs to be checked in daily basis
for maintaining optimum operating conditions.
c) Maintaining a steady flow rate: Surface loading rate is preferred to be at 6m/hr, with a
maximum of 10m/hr. It is highly efficient under constant operating conditions and
constant flow.
Surface loading rate= flow received by the floatation tank/tank surface area
d) Implementation of a regular maintenance programme: Insufficient air saturation,
leakages and pumping capacity can reduce the efficiency of solid segregation. Thus a
regular maintenance programme is required here.

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5.3 Reviewing the Biological Process
It has been observed that the previous sections have reviewed the preliminary and
physical/chemical treatment processes. This section is going to review the biological
processes involved in the effluent treatment.
Activated Sludge: An activated sludge process can be kept healthy, if the operator can
predict or detect a range of parameters on daily basis and make necessary adjustments.
This helps in identifying performance trends and deviations and takes remedial action
accordingly. Some common parameters which require monitoring are the BOD, COD, DO,
pH and alkalinity. Other parameters like nutrient addition, food: mass ratio, sludge age,
settling ability and controlling bulking activated sludge. (See Figure B.8 in Appendix B, page
55).
pH and Alkalinity: The optimum pH for breakdown of organic matter is 6.5-9.5 and for
nitrification is 7-8.5. For this, the pH adjustment needs to be carried out before the
untreated effluents enter the aeration tank (at equalization or neutralization stage). The
direct addition of chemicals to the aeration tank need to be limited for fine-tune of the pH.
The pH in the aeration tank needs to be monitored and adjusted gradually. Calibration tests
are required to be conducted every three days. In nitrification systems, we need to check
the alkalinity of the effluent entering and leaving the aeration tank.
BOD and COD: The ratio of 2:1 to 3:1 for the effluent is fairly appropriate for the biological
treatment.
DO: For activated sludge system, DO concentration needs to be 1-2mg/litre and for
nitrification it should be around 4 mg/litre. Both air and oxygen can be used for aeration.
Oxygen is expensive and also holds advantages such as: a quick response to changing
effluent character, it increases rate of oxygen transfer to biomass, reduced odor emissions
Monitoring of the DO is done using probes in the aeration (at least 2). Calibration of these
helps avoids drifting. DO levels is controlled using proportional sensors, since there is
much less fluctuations in the DO level and less air or oxygen is used.
Addition of Nutrient: Since the biological activity of sludge is affected by the composition of
the untreated effluent, especially presence of ammoniacal nitrogen and phosphorus. Thus
we need to maintain a BOD: nitrogen: phosphorus ratio of 100:5:1 in providing optimum

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nutrient microbial growth balance. Monitoring of nitrogen and phosphorus at entering and
leaving stages ensures sufficient levels of nutrient.
Sludge Age: Sludge is the time (days) for which the biomass remains in the system, it is
linked to the F: M. It affects both the condition and character of the activated sludge flocs. It
may also be called solids retention time. A long SRT (5 day) indicates a low sludge growth
rate and a shorter one (less than a day) indicate sludge with a higher growth rate.
Sludge Retention Time, SRT (days) = Mass of solids in aeration tank (kg)/ Mass of solids
(SAS and final effluent) (kg/day)
Sludge Thickening: The thickening process can be achieved through mixing pre-treatment
sludge with biological sludge, use of tall and narrow tanks and not low tanks (thickening
efficiency depends on the height of the sludge). We need to reduce the time the sludge stays
in the thickening tank to avoid the formation of septic conditions (with corrosion problems
and color).
Dewatering: This process is used in separation of water from the sludge flocs before the
sludge is centrifuged. As the flocculants are expensive, it requires routine tests and for
optimization of dose rates and sludge quality.

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 Chapter 6: Common Difficulties in Operating the ETP and
Government Initiatives for the Usage of ETP in Bangladesh
6.1 Difficulties in ETP Operations in Bangladesh
In Bangladesh, the main difficulty in setting up ETP is faced by the small and medium scale
industries as the ETPs are very expensive to set up. Some industries have the ETPs but are
not performing at their potential level. This mainly happens due to lack of proper
knowledge on maintaining the ETP, lack of monitoring, technical capability and less efforts
in keeping records. The owners often hesitate in running full- time operations of the plant,
which can specifically hinder biological treatment processes. Due to lack of well-trained
supervisors, there are cases where one supervisor is working simultaneously for two
companies which become tiring for him. The land required is a concern in setting up a
biological plant, which can also be fixed through engineering experts but most have to be
hired from foreign countries as the country does not possess engineers trained in this
sector. The bacteria retention time is another area for the biological plants, which
companies face trouble in monitoring, especially if the supervisors of the biological ETP are
not well trained. One of the major concerns in running a combined physico-chemical-
biological ETP for the owners is again the chemical cost. This chemical is mostly consumed
in the coagulation- flocculation process, which can be tackled through monitoring and
controlling the inflow volume and characteristics of effluent from the washing units. In-
plant jar testing is such a process of monitoring the waste streams. But, most industries
either do not have the facility or the technical experts in carrying out the jar testing
process. It has been observed that, the equipment costs of the ETP are cheaper in European
and other Asian countries compared to Bangladesh thus a subsidy provided by the
government can help the textile and garments industry in overcoming this challenge.
In case of choosing the correct ETP, experts are required whereas the suppliers present in
Bangladesh are local agents of foreign suppliers and most lack in the technical knowledge
in waste assessment or the processes of the industry. There is lack of knowledge and
recklessness observed in disposal of sludge without analyzing the waste characteristics. In
some cases, the sludge is used up by creating compost and if the characteristics of the

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compost are toxic it may end up joining the water body during rainfall. It should be
monitored that the land filling sites for the sludge should not be close to the ground water
aquifers used for supplies of drinking water. The compost should also not be used for any
food or fruit trees rather it should be used for timber plantation. It has also been observed
that, at times the officials from the Department of Environment (DoE) create biased reports
for companies. Many company officials report that, it is very easy to get influenced by such
unwise activities since the charge paid to the DoE officials are less than the cost of running
the ETPs. There have also been cases where, the DoE officials seemed to have put pressure
on company owners by creating false test reports of their ETPs. Such cases would not be
possible only if the owners have a clear understanding of the ETP processes and steps in
waste treatment. At the end, it can be seen that the textile and garments industry requires
major awareness on the use of ETP and the industry also needs to adopt effective initiatives
in lowering the costs of operating the existing ETPs.
6.2 Government Initiatives on Raising Awareness for ETPs
Finance Minister, AMA Muhith in his budget speech for 2014-15, announced that the
government has taken decision in imposing 1% “Environmental Protection Surcharge” or
“green tax” on ad-valorem basis. This tax will be imposed on all the products polluting the
environment which are manufactured in Bangladesh. This initiative sounds promising;
however needs to be monitored by the National Board of Revenues (NBR). So far, NBR has
listed 760 industries, which are not maintaining the ETP standards. It is also evident that, a
lot of factories operate ETP plants just at the time of inspection by the respected
authorities. In some cases the firms also offer bribes to prepare a false report.
Recently government has slowed down the assessment process after realizing the fact that,
this might hurt the country’s international image. However, in an inter-ministerial meeting,
shipping minister Shajahan Khan has stated that industries without having ETPs have
already been fined a total of almost 118 crore taka. He further mentioned that government
would gradually shut down all the firms which do not consider the ETPs. A sample exercise
of the Central Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) is evident in the tanneries of Hazaribagh.
Bangladesh government made transfer obligatory for all the ternaries firms to Savar and
finally it is observed that they are ready for this move. Chairman of Bangladesh Finished

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Leather, Leather Goods and Footwear Exporters Association (BFLLFEA), Mohiuddin
Mahmud Mahin has expressed that at least 25 out of 55 leather units are expected to start
production at Savar from March, 2016. However, Shahin Ahmed, the chairman of
Bangladesh Tanners Association (BTA) told that the tanneries are still not fully prepared
and need few more months for this transfer. But it should also be kept in mind that, the
CETP should treat the effluent of similar types of chemical processing factories. If this does
not happen then, the different effluent from factories will end creating an untreatable
complex. Thus good action plan and expert opinion is highly required to avoid the huge
investments to go in vain.
Bangladesh Bank is also playing an important role by setting targets of direct green
financing for both the banking and non-banking financial institutions for financing
environmental friendly projects. The banks get their own policy guidelines approved by
their board of directors and also the Green Banking Unit (GBU) for carrying out the green
banking activities. In August 2009, Tk 200 crore had been launched by the central bank for
green banking refinance scheme for setting up solar panels, industrial ETPs, and biogas
plants to help in reducing the industrial pollution and increase the power supply. The loan
provided for commercial banks is between 5% to 12% interest rate in direct refinancing
and credit wholesale to the entrepreneurs. Despite the presence of all these opportunities,
it has been observed that the companies are yet not making proper use of these banking
facilities.

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 Chapter 7: Conclusion
The textile and garments industry has been one of the most consistent contributors to the
country’s economy; it holds up to 81.71% of the total exports and has created almost 4
million workers in the country. However, this industry has also been recognized as the
number one contributor of pollution, especially to rivers like Buriganga, Shitalakkha, Balu,
Turag and Bangshi. The small and medium scale factories outside the EPZ zone, like in
Savar, Narayangonj, Tongi, Narshindi, Hazaribagh and Keranigonj especially require
immediate assistance with their waste management as the pollution parameters in these
regions are observed to be well beyond the national parameters. The companies in these
regions need to realize immediately that they need to operate their ETPs efficiently and
routinely monitor them on regular basis. Although there have been efforts made by the
government in setting up the Central Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) for companies who
are unable to setup up their own ETPs, these efforts would only be fruitful if the existing
ETPs in the industry are encouraged to be operated regularly and efficiently.
Under the Environmental Conservation Rules 1997, industrial projects are classified into
four categories based on environmental impact and location (Green, Orange A, Orange B
and Red). The fabric dyeing and chemical industry in Bangladesh falls under Red. The Act
and Environmental Rules (1997) also states that, it is mandatory for textile industries to
setup an ETP to treat the waste before it is released to the environment. Furthermore, in
order to get an environmental clearance certificate; these industries need to submit their
ETP project and plans to the Department of Environment for assessment and approval. It
has been estimated according to a report at the 3rd Annual Conference of the Green Growth
Knowledge Platform (2015) that, there are only 812 ETPs installed in the manufacturing
units (2014) and out of the ones with the ETP, most lack knowledge of running it
efficiently. They hesitate to run the ETPs regularly for high operating costs and look at it as
an external operation.
There is good news for Bangladesh as the World Bank study (2014) has concluded that, if
the garments industry of Bangladesh is able to capture 20% of China’s apparel export
attrition, there will be 5.4 million new jobs and a $29 billion increase in export volume.
They see Bangladesh as the next hotspot. However the competition level in the global

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market is increasing for Bangladesh, especially from countries like Myanmar and Ethiopia,
who with a low wage garments market are continuing to increase their exports to the
foreign market. Thus, Bangladesh needs to work on its environmental and work place
safety issue to retain the attention from the international buyers. The buyers would only
continue to pay more attention and give priority to the country as long as it abides by the
international environment standards. The only way to retain a fair image of the country is
by controlling its effect on the environment. Thus, the ETP plays a key role not only in
controlling the damage done to the environment but also in generating more exports of
garments to the foreign market, benefiting the entire country as a whole.
The best way for Bangladesh to stay ahead of its competitors is by protecting the
environment and in doing it the textile and garments industry needs to properly adopt the
Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP). It is observed that the industry finds it difficult to operate
the ETPs on daily basis mainly due to its high running costs. There are other limitations as
well in the industry, since there are a handful of well-trained ETP supervisors and the
suppliers of equipment to the companies are only agents of foreign companies who often
misguide companies in setting up an appropriate treatment facility. Some government
officials also try to exploit the situation in the industry and put pressure on the companies
through biased treatment reports. In order to avoid damage of public image and a bigger
fine from the government, the companies end up paying money to the officials under such
pressure. Now, all these difficulties can very easily be overcome only if the companies
adopt some simple practices and initiatives.
It has been found that initiatives in the form of a team approach can easily help in choosing
an appropriate ETP and also help to cut down operating costs. A team approach is where;
all the company officials related to the production processes are well aware of the ETP’s
operations and possess up-to-date knowledge of the effluent characteristic and treatment
reports. Experts believe that an appropriate ETP needs to be chosen mainly based on the
effluent volume and characteristic, and the available facility of the company. Thus, a team
approach from the beginning allows proper sharing of knowledge among the company
officials and they can eventually be able to choose an appropriate treatment plant. A team
approach not only helps to cut down costs by keeping up-to-date reports on the volume
and characteristic of effluent generated in the production processes, but also keeps the
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officials working at the ETP highly motivated. Other initiatives in the form of outsourcing
the ETP’s operations have impressively lowered running costs and have increased
efficiency of the plant; such an initiative has been observed in the United Kingdom. There
can be initiatives in the form of an internal reward system, where workers at the washing
units can be given simple rewards to keep them motivated in using fewer chemicals in their
process and in releasing less complicated volume of effluent. The government can also play
a crucial role in encouraging the industry, by giving awards to companies who have
stepped forward and adopted environmental friendly approaches. Such award events can
also encourage other industries to increase their efforts in protecting the environment.
Other initiatives can be in the form Private-Public Partnership, as it can help ensuring the
competitive market equilibrium conditions within this industry. Cost of setting up the ETP
varies greatly across the regions, thus government intervention in ETP market to offer
equipment at lower prices is welcomed and would surely help the firms in properly
installing and maintaining ETPs. There are also other initiatives discussed in this study
which have proven to be successful in lowering the costs of running the ETP, learning about
such initiatives can surely be beneficial for the industry as a whole.
Reviewing of the different treatment processes involved in the ETPs has also been
observed to reduce operating costs significantly. Processes like bacteria retention time
needs to be closely monitored in case of the biological treatment plants. In case of chemical
treatment plants processes like jar- testing on a routine basis is very important as it helps
to control the dose rate for coagulant/ flocculant and have increased the efficiency of the
plant. At the end it can be observed that it is very important for the textile and garments
industry to adopt the ETP as an integral part of its operation. Simple efforts in properly
adopting the ETP can result in a lot of benefits for the textile and garments industry, and
help in increasing its contribution to Bangladesh’s economy.
There also remain scopes of future studies through collaborative researches between
engineers and environmentalists in setting up ETPs which would require less land area
(especially in the case of biological treatment plants). Other scope of study remains in
finding more advanced and cost effective technology which would reduce the consumption
of chemicals by the ETPs.

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 Appendix A
Defining the Technical Parameters
pH: pH is a measure of the concentration of hydrogen ion in the waste water and tells us if
the water is acidic or alkaline. It is important because aquatic life, e.g. most fish can only
survive in a pH range of 6 to 9. pH value greater or less than this would be threatening for
their existence. The national standard for pH is set to be 6-9.
DO (Dissolved Oxygen): The marine life depends on the oxygen present in water or in other
words dissolved oxygen. There are a number of factors on which the DO is dependent, they
are: firstly the temperature of the water, the amount of oxygen that goes out of the stream
as respiration and decaying of organisms, the amount of oxygen that comes back through
photosynthesis (more as a waste product), stream flow and aeration (rapid movement).
The temperature plays a vital role for the aquatic life, as in higher temperature there is less
dissolving of oxygen. National standard for DO is 0-6 mg/L.
BOD and COD: When the choice is between Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) and
Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), COD is often chosen as a substitute as it takes only few
hours whereas BOD takes about 5 days. The BOD is a measure of how much oxygen the
bacteria will consume during the decomposition of organic matter (aerobic conditions).
Waste water treatment plants are created in a way through which it would work as a
bacteria farm, where bacteria are fed oxygen and organic waste. The process is to remove
the excess bacteria grown in the system. This disposable “solid” waste is called sludge and
is disposed of on land. COD is the measure of total oxygen required for the oxidation of all
organic substances into carbon dioxide and water. Although COD takes less time than BOD,
its value is still higher. The national standard for COD is 200mg/L and BOD is 50mg/L.
TDS and TSS: In defining TDS and TSS we first need to connect the two with TS or total
solids. The equation that connects them are, TS = TDS + TSS. Total suspended solid (TSS)
can be separated from a given solution by using the process of filtration. The filter holds the
residue, where temperature ranges between 103º to 105º and is heated in an oven for an
hour or so. The sample is then cooled and weighed. The difference in weight of the residue
before and after heating gives us the TSS. The filtrate which is passed to the dish is then

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dried and the difference gives us the total dissolved solid (TDS). The process is not much
expensive and takes couple of hours or so. National standard for TDS is 460mg/L.
EC (Electrical Conductivity): It depends on the concentration of salts dissolved in water or
in other words the TDS. It is directly proportional to the temperature, and a higher
temperature leads to higher conductivity. EC usually standardizes the reading to 25 ºC.
Sulphur and Sulphide: Textile contains various sulphur compounds and given it is passed
into the environment; this sulphate is easily converted to sulphide after having the oxygen
removed by the biochemical oxygen demand. A very poisonous gas is formed due to the
formation of hydrogen sulphide. These sulphides create an obstacle in the biological
treatment processes.
Color: In terms of health issue color is not much of a concern. But it does hold significance
for the image of the factory, since it is very visible. Nowadays, discharge standards for
colors are being set as well by international buyers.
Oil and Grease: These can cause maintenance difficulties as they cover the surfaces of
components of ETPs. They also cause interference with biological treatment processes.

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Fig A.1: Test Report Acknowledgement by the Buyer (H&M), Jan 22 to Feb 02, 2015
Source: Vision Group

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Fig A.2: Test Report Acknowledgement by the Buyer (H&M), Dec 10 to Dec 23 2015
Source: Vision Group

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 Appendix B

Fig B.1: Flow Diagram of a typical combined physico-chemical and biological treatment plant in
Bangladesh

Source: Author

Page | 50
Fig B.2: Flow Diagram for a typical physico-chemical treatment plant in Bangladesh

Source: Author

Fig B.3: Flow Diagram of a typical biological treatment plant in Bangladesh

Source: Author

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 Figure B.4: Process Block Diagram (Chemical ETP of Vision Group)
Source: Vision Group

RAW EFFLUENT

BAR SCREEN

EQUALIZATION
TANK
Alum / LIME
DOSING
FLASH MIXING
TANK

PE DOSING
FLOCCULATION
TANK

TUBE SETTLER

TANK

SLUDGE SUMP

CLEAR WATER TANK

DUEL MEDIA CENTRIFUGE

FILTER

HYPO/Acid CRU
DOSING
DEWATERED SLUDGE FOR
AREATION TANK DISPOSAL

TREATED EFFLUENT FOR

DISPOSAL

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 Figure B.5: Process Block Diagram (Biological-chemical ETP of United Apparels)

Source: United Apparels

Raw Effluent

Screen Chamber

Equalisation

Flash Mixing
Coagulant

Flocculation

Primary Clarifier Polyelectrolyte

Fresh Water
Sludge
Disposed off

Aeration Tank
Blower used Bacteria Retention

Secondary Clarifier Sedimentation

Filtration

Outlet Page | 53
Fig B.6: Example of Diversion Facility
Source: Advanced Environmental Technologies (Accepta)

Fig B.7: Example two-stage neutralization process

Source: Advanced Environmental Technologies (Accepta)

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Fig B.8: The main elements of an activated sludge plant
Source: Advanced Environmental Technologies (Accepta)

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 Table B.1: List of Interview Questions

i) What kind of ETP does your company use? The reason behind choosing this
particular ETP.
ii) What was the installation cost of the ETP? How much land area does the ETP
occupy?
iii) What is the chemical cost of running the ETP?
iv) How many employees are working at the plant? What is the monthly salary for
them in total?
v) How often and how long do you operate the ETP?
vi) Have you faced any difficulty in operating the ETP? What do you feel is the main
difficulty in running the ETP in the industry?
vii) Have your company undertaken any initiative in efficiently operating the ETP?
viii) Do companies in the region operate ETP on regular basis?
ix) Do feel motivated in running the ETP?
x) If you feel motivated in running the ETP, then what is the reason behind this
motivation?

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 Table B.2: Design Basis of Vision Group’s ETP

Inlet Effluent Characteristics

Flow : 1200 m3/day i.e. 50 m3/hr

pH : 8.5 – 9.5
BOD : 150 mg/lit
COD : 250 mg/lit
TSS : Less than 450 mg/lit
Oil & Grease : Less than 5 ppm
Color : 600 Pt-Co units max
Temperature: 45-degree Celsius Max

Treated Effluent Characteristics at the Outlet of ETP

pH : 6.5 – 8.5
BOD : ≤ 30 mg/lit
COD : ≤ 200 mg/lit
TSS : ≤ 30 mg/lit
DO : ≥ 4.5 mg/l
Oil & Grease : Below Detectable Limit
TDS : Same as inlet or slightly higher
Color : ≤ 150 Pt-Co units max
Temperature: ≤ 35-degree Celsius Max

(TDS will not be treated in the ETP scheme. Since ETP process involves addition of
chemicals the TDS levels in fact marginally increase in the treated effluent. TDS removal is
possible only with RO membranes.)
Source: Vision Group

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 Table B.3: Utility Requirement for Vision Group’s ETP

i) Chemicals

Acid (100 % purity) : 48 kg/day -Max

Alum/FeSo4) : 580 kg/day -Max
Lime (85% purity) : 700 kg/day -Max
Anionic PE (type -I) (100% purity) : 8.5 kg/day -Max
Sodium hypochlorite (33% Cl2) : 33 kg/day -Max (for disinfection) only
Sodium Chloride (NaCl) : 256 kg/day

Note: Above quantities are approximate. The actual quantities will depend on chemical
purity, effluent characteristics and jar tests.

ii) Power

Consumed Power (Kwh / hr) = 46 KW

These figures are indicative and not guarantee figures. The actual consumption will depend
on the working conditions.
Source: Vision Group

Page | 58
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