Treatment of paint manufacturing wastewater by coagulation/electrochemical methods: Proposals for disposal and/or reuse of treated water

This paper describes and discusses an investigation into the treatment of paint manufacturing wastewater (water-based acrylic texture) by coagulation (aluminum sulfate) coupled to electrochemical methods (BDD electrode). Two proposals are put forward, based on the results. The first proposal considers the feasibility of reusing wastewater treated by the methods separately and in combination, while the second examines the possibility of its disposal into water bodies. To this end, parameters such as toxicity, turbidity, color, organic load, dissolved aluminum, alkalinity, hardness and odor are evaluated. In addition, the proposal for water reuse is strengthened by the quality of the water-based paints produced using the wastewater treated by the two methods (combined and separate), which was evaluated based on the typical parameters for the quality control of these products. Under optimized conditions, the use of the chemical coagulation (12 mL/L of Al2(SO4)3 dosage) treatment, alone, proved the feasibility of reusing the treated wastewater in the paint manufacturing process. However, the use of the electrochemical method (i = 10 mA/cm2 and t = 90 min) was required to render the treated wastewater suitable for discharge into water bodies. [Display omitted] •Chemical coagulation meets the quality control requirements only for reuse proposal.•Electrochemical treatment wastewater is required for water discharge proposal.•The estimated cost of energy required to remove the organic load was 6.09 kWh/m3.•Water-based paints were successfully produced with recycled water from treatments.