Out of interest in protecting the environment, El-Araby Group has established the industrial wastewater treatment station at the Air-Conditioners Factory. The station was designed to help achieve a number of aims, including:
1- Enriching the scientific knowledge of technicians, regarding the nature and characteristics of industrial wastewater, its dangers to fisheries and agriculture, and its effects on humans and animals.
2- Enhancing the staff's ability to identify and deal with the core technology of industrial wastewater technology.
3- Ensuring the staff are fully aware of the Egyptian environmental laws and regulations related to wastewater and sludge.
Hence, El-Araby Group has applied a system of self-monitoring for the industrial wastewater treatment station, which consists in enabling the operation technicians to evaluate and monitor compliance with environmental regulations, then to develop the plant so that it encompasses the improvement of environmental performance.
To achieve this, there are a number of targets for the use of this system:
1- Detecting and collecting real data about the operation of the industrial wastewater treatment station.
2- The ability to analyze different readings and identify the environmental performance of the station.
3- Ensuring compliance with legal requirements.
4- Continuous improvement of environmental operation performance.
5- The ability to increase the efficiency of the station, if needed.
For the application of the self-monitoring system in the station, problems of the work environment have been listed as follows:
- The emission of dangerous chemical gases that negatively affect the health of station staff
- Foul odors
- Treated water
- The resulting sludge and its treatment
Self-monitoring resulted in a number of advantages for El-Araby, such as:
- The ability to identify directions in the station's performance.
- Identifying the type of chemicals used for the treatment of industrial wastewater.
- Enabling compliance with environment management systems (ISO 1400) and getting a leading position among competitors.
- Quick execution of corrective measures in case any problem of incompliance is detected.
- Making decision-making easier because results are real.
At this point, we need to raise a question about the properties of water subject to treatment. The answer is: there are two types of properties of industrial wastewater (physical and chemical).
First: Chemical Properties , such as:
- Organic materials
They are made up of a mixture of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, in addition to other elements such as sulphur, phosphorus and iron.
- Oils and greases
They are some of the most immutable substances, since they do not compose easily. If not removed, they pose risks to marine life.
- Industrial detergents
These are substances that decrease surface tension and produce foam in industrial wastewater treatment agents.
Second: Physical Properties, such as:
- Hard substances
Emitting from the gases produced during the decomposition of organic substances or added to wastewater.
The color of industrial wastewater varies according to the type of industry. Traditional treatment methods cannot remove colors.
The process of industrial wastewater treatment is achieved through a number of related or separate operations:
1- Physical operations
These are the first operations used in the treatment of industrial wastewater, such as sifting, mixing and filtering.
2- Chemical operations
These operations depend on chemical interactions in order to transform polluting substances to elements that can be easily separated and dealt with, such as precipitation.
3- Biological operations
This operation is used to get rid of the organic materials that are biodegradable.
Through the execution and regular follow-up of these operations, industrial wastewater is treated and then disposed of as environment-friendly.