The use of nanoparticles (NPs) in several consumer products has led to them finding their way into wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Some of these NPs have photocatalytic properties, thus providing a possible solution to textile industries to photodegrade dyes from their wastewater. Thus, the interaction of NPs with industrial dye effluents is inevitable. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and development (OECD) guideline for testing of chemical 303A was employed to study the fate and behaviour of TiO2 NPs in industrial dye-stuff effluent. This was due to the unavailability of NPs' fate and behaviour test protocols. The effect of TiO2 NPs on the treatment process was ascertained by measuring chemical oxygen demand (COD) and 5-day biological oxygen demand (BOD5). Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) was used to study the fate and behavior of TiO2 NPs. Acclimatization of bacteria to target pollutants was a crucial factor for the treatment efficiency of activated sludge in a simulated wastewater treatment plant (SWTP). The acclimatization of the activated sludge to the synthetic industrial dye-stuff effluent was successfully achieved. Effect of TiO2 NPs on the treatment process efficiency was then investigated. Addition of TiO2 NPs had no effect on the treatment process as chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal remained >80%. Measured total plate count (TPC) affirmed that the addition of TiO2 NPs had no effect on the treatment process. The removal of total nitrogen (TN) was not efficient as the treatment system was required to have an oxic and anoxic stage for efficient TN removal. Results from X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) confirmed that the anatase phase of the added TiO2 NPs remained unchanged even after exposure to the treatment plant. Removal of the NPs from the influent was facilitated by biosorption of the NPs on the activated sludge. Nanoparticles received by wastewater treatment plants will therefore reach the environment through sludge waste dumped in landfill. About 90% of TiO2 was retained in the activated sludge, and 10-11% escaped with the treated effluents. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) mapping micrographs together with an energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) confirmed the presence of Ti in the sludge.
Keywords: Acclimatization; dye-stuff; industrial effluent; nanoparticles.