Assessment of the microplastic leakage from the textile industry wastewater treatment plant into the urban canals of Thailand | |
| Author | Rasheed, Zulakha |
| Call Number | AIT RSPR no.MPA-22-23 |
| Subject(s) | Microplastics--Environmental aspects--Thailand Wastewater--Treatment--Thailand Textile industry--Waste disposal--Environmental aspects--Thailand |
| Note | A research study submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Marine Plastics Abatement |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | Plastic pollution is the big challenge for the world. By time, Plastic breakdown and convert into the microplastic. Microplastics are small particles less than 5 mm in size. Dealing with microplastics leakage from different sources are very difficult. These microplastic particles enter into the water bodies, rivers and ocean any pollute it. Many microplastics released during industrial activities. Textile industry is one of the major sources of microplastic leakage. Throughout the life cycle of textile from production, consumption, washing to landfill, a lot of microplastic released during each stage. With the increase in the new fashion demand for more cloths increased that leads to more production in textile industries. Thailand has its own textile industries hub to fulfill the requirements of Thai people. Asian textile industry is one of the most highly textile production industry in Thailand. This industry has its own wastewater treatment plant, that treat the water before discharge to the nearest canal to industry. The water of this canal also used by nearby farmers to irrigate their crops. This research study focuses on the assessment of microplastic leakage from Asian textile industry wastewater treatment plant to the canal and nearby water bodies. We took sample from the canal upstream and downstream location with working and off hours variation. The main objective is to identify the total microplastic leakage from the industry to the canal, check the variation between upstream and downstream sample, and check the difference in analyzed microplastic amount during working and off hours of industry. For working day sample collected on Thursday and for Off day sample collected on Saturday. The average leakage of the microplastic is 73.75 particles/m3.After lab analysis, results show from sample the particles/m3 in the upstream sample 344 ± 349 is higher as compared to the downstream sample 246 ± 252, but the characteristics of microplastic analyzed in both upstream and downstream sample are the same that showed the leaked microplastics can move to the rivers also. The average leakage of microplastic from the industry is 172 Particles/m3 from upstream and 123 Particles /m3 from downstream. For working and off days, on working day of industry analyzed microplastic particles/m3 were 308, while during off day total particles/m3 were. 282. On the bases of results, and after reviewing the previous studies we find out the wastewater treatment plant efficiency is not so good and still microplastic released from the industrial wastewater treatment plant to the canal. Recommendations include the development of innovative production processes and advance technology that reduce the microplastic leakage and capture the microplastics from the wastewater. |
| Year | 2022 |
| Type | Research Study Project Report (RSPR) |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Energy and Climate Change (Former title: Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Change (DEECC)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Marine Plastic Abatement (MPA) |
| Chairperson(s) | Xue, Wenchao |
| Examination Committee(s) | Ekbordin Winijkul;Chongrak Polprasert |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Government of Japan |
| Degree | Research studies project report (M.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2022 |