Membrane Treatment to Improve Water Recycling in an Italian Textile District
The textile district of Prato (Italy) has developed a wastewater recycling system of considerable scale. The reclaimed wastewater is characterized by high levels of hardness (32 °F on average), which precludes its direct reuse in numerous wet textile processes (e.g., textile dyeing). Consequently, t...
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MDPI AG
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Membranes |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0375/15/1/18 |
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| author | Francesca Tuci Michele Allocca Donatella Fibbi Daniele Daddi Riccardo Gori |
| author_facet | Francesca Tuci Michele Allocca Donatella Fibbi Daniele Daddi Riccardo Gori |
| author_sort | Francesca Tuci |
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| description | The textile district of Prato (Italy) has developed a wastewater recycling system of considerable scale. The reclaimed wastewater is characterized by high levels of hardness (32 °F on average), which precludes its direct reuse in numerous wet textile processes (e.g., textile dyeing). Consequently, these companies utilize ion exchange resins for water softening. However, the regeneration of the resins results in an increased concentration of chlorides in the reclaimed wastewater that exceeds the limit set by Italian regulations for the reuse of water for irrigation purposes. The objective of this study is to investigate the potential of membrane filtration as an alternative method for removing hardness from water. Therefore, an industrial-scale ultrafiltration-nanofiltration (UF-NF) pilot plant was installed to test the rejection of hardness from the reclaimed wastewater. The experiment employed two types of NF membranes and three permeate fluxes (27, 35, and 38 L·m<sup>−2</sup>·h<sup>−1</sup>) for testing. The results demonstrated that the system could remove hardness with efficiencies exceeding 98% under all conditions tested. The experimental findings indicate that the UF-NF system has the potential to be employed as a post-treatment step to render the reclaimed wastewater suitable for all textile finishing processes and to expand the scope for reuse. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-533e40f7b10944859299c9f3fbcece4c |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2077-0375 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Membranes |
| spelling | doaj-art-533e40f7b10944859299c9f3fbcece4c2025-01-24T13:41:02ZengMDPI AGMembranes2077-03752025-01-011511810.3390/membranes15010018Membrane Treatment to Improve Water Recycling in an Italian Textile DistrictFrancesca Tuci0Michele Allocca1Donatella Fibbi2Daniele Daddi3Riccardo Gori4Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Florence, Via di Santa Marta 3, 50139 Firenze, ItalyGestione Impianti Depurazione Acque S.p.A., Via Baciacavallo 36, 59100 Prato, ItalyGestione Impianti Depurazione Acque S.p.A., Via Baciacavallo 36, 59100 Prato, ItalyGestione Impianti Depurazione Acque S.p.A., Via Baciacavallo 36, 59100 Prato, ItalyDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Florence, Via di Santa Marta 3, 50139 Firenze, ItalyThe textile district of Prato (Italy) has developed a wastewater recycling system of considerable scale. The reclaimed wastewater is characterized by high levels of hardness (32 °F on average), which precludes its direct reuse in numerous wet textile processes (e.g., textile dyeing). Consequently, these companies utilize ion exchange resins for water softening. However, the regeneration of the resins results in an increased concentration of chlorides in the reclaimed wastewater that exceeds the limit set by Italian regulations for the reuse of water for irrigation purposes. The objective of this study is to investigate the potential of membrane filtration as an alternative method for removing hardness from water. Therefore, an industrial-scale ultrafiltration-nanofiltration (UF-NF) pilot plant was installed to test the rejection of hardness from the reclaimed wastewater. The experiment employed two types of NF membranes and three permeate fluxes (27, 35, and 38 L·m<sup>−2</sup>·h<sup>−1</sup>) for testing. The results demonstrated that the system could remove hardness with efficiencies exceeding 98% under all conditions tested. The experimental findings indicate that the UF-NF system has the potential to be employed as a post-treatment step to render the reclaimed wastewater suitable for all textile finishing processes and to expand the scope for reuse.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0375/15/1/18textile wastewatermembrane treatmentnanofiltrationhardness removalresource recoverytextile industry sustainability |
| spellingShingle | Francesca Tuci Michele Allocca Donatella Fibbi Daniele Daddi Riccardo Gori Membrane Treatment to Improve Water Recycling in an Italian Textile District Membranes textile wastewater membrane treatment nanofiltration hardness removal resource recovery textile industry sustainability |
| title | Membrane Treatment to Improve Water Recycling in an Italian Textile District |
| title_full | Membrane Treatment to Improve Water Recycling in an Italian Textile District |
| title_fullStr | Membrane Treatment to Improve Water Recycling in an Italian Textile District |
| title_full_unstemmed | Membrane Treatment to Improve Water Recycling in an Italian Textile District |
| title_short | Membrane Treatment to Improve Water Recycling in an Italian Textile District |
| title_sort | membrane treatment to improve water recycling in an italian textile district |
| topic | textile wastewater membrane treatment nanofiltration hardness removal resource recovery textile industry sustainability |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0375/15/1/18 |
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