Loading article...
Loading article...
Stream/Area:
-
Subject:
-
Paper ID:
IJSREM63798
Volume:
10 |
5 |
May 2026
Pages:
1-11
Publication Frequency:
Monthly (12 issues per year)
License:International Journal of Scientific Research in Engineering and Management follows the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) License, allowing free use and distribution with proper attribution.
Department of Civil Engineering (Environmental Engineering)
Swaminarayan Siddhanta Institute of Technology, Nagpur (MH)
Department of Civil Engineering (Environmental Engineering)
Swaminarayan Siddhanta Institute of Technology, Nagpur (MH)
Department of Civil Engineering (Environmental Engineering)
Swaminarayan Siddhanta Institute of Technology, Nagpur (MH)
Department of Civil Engineering (Environmental Engineering)
Swaminarayan Siddhanta Institute of Technology, Nagpur (MH)
The dairy processing industry generates substantial quantities of high-strength wastewater containing elevated concentrations of biodegradable organic matter, fats, proteins, suspended solids, oil & grease, nitrogenous compounds, and phosphorus. Improper discharge of untreated dairy wastewater leads to severe environmental degradation including dissolved oxygen depletion, eutrophication, odor generation, groundwater contamination, and ecological imbalance. Conventional treatment technologies such as activated sludge processes, membrane bioreactors, sequencing batch reactors, and chemical coagulation systems are effective; however, they require high capital investment, continuous energy supply, skilled operation, and intensive maintenance, making them economically unfeasible for small and medium-scale dairy industries. Therefore, there is a growing need for sustainable, low-cost, decentralized, and environmentally friendly treatment technologies utilizing locally available materials. The present study investigates the effectiveness of coconut husk (CH), sugarcane bagasse (SB), and limestone (LS) as natural filter media for dairy industry wastewater treatment using a laboratory-scale vertical flow biofiltration system. The developed filtration unit consisted of layered media comprising gravel, limestone, sugarcane bagasse, and coconut husk arranged sequentially to achieve physical filtration, adsorption, microbial biodegradation, and chemical stabilization. Dairy wastewater samples were collected from Dinshaw’s Dairy Foods Ltd., Plot No. K-41/42, Five Star MIDC Industrial Area, Butibori, Nagpur – 441122, Maharashtra, India. The collected wastewater was analyzed for pH, turbidity, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD₅), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS), oil & grease, total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) according to APHA Standard Methods. Experimental investigation demonstrated significant pollutant removal efficiencies with turbidity reduction of 88.2%, BOD₅ removal of 79.5%, COD reduction of 74.3%, TSS removal of 84.6%, oil & grease removal of 81.2%, TP reduction of 68.7%, and TN reduction of 62.4% under optimized hydraulic retention conditions. The developed natural filtration system demonstrated stable hydraulic performance, low operational cost, minimal energy requirement, and environmental sustainability, indicating strong potential for decentralized dairy wastewater treatment applications.
KEYWORDS
The present investigation successfully demonstrated the effectiveness of coconut husk, sugarcane bagasse, and limestone as sustainable natural filter media for treatment of dairy industry wastewater generated from Dinshaw’s Dairy Foods Ltd., Butibori MIDC, Nagpur. The developed gravity-driven vertical flow biofiltration system achieved substantial reduction in turbidity, BOD₅, COD, TSS, oil & grease, total nitrogen, and phosphorus through integrated physical filtration, adsorption, microbial degradation, and chemical stabilization mechanisms. The proposed treatment technology offers an economical, low-energy, environmentally sustainable, and decentralized wastewater treatment alternative suitable for dairy processing industries located in rural and semi-urban regions. The utilization of agricultural waste materials promotes circular economy principles, agricultural waste valorization, and sustainable environmental management practices.
1. APHA. (2017). Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater (23rd ed.). American Public Health Association, Washington, DC. 2. Metcalf & Eddy. (2014). Wastewater Engineering: Treatment and Resource Recovery (5th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education, New York. 3. Karić, N., Maia, A.S., Teodorović, A., Atanasova, N., Langergraber, G., Crini, G., Ribeiro, A.R.L., & Đolić, M. (2022). Bio-waste valorisation: Agricultural wastes as biosorbents for removal of inorganic pollutants in wastewater treatment. Cleaner Engineering and Technology, 11, 100239. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceja.2021.100239 4. Varsani, V.G., Vyas, S.J., Dudhagara, D., & Gadhvi, K. (2023). Unlocking the potential of lignocellulosic waste: A kinetic modeling approach for bio-coagulants in sewage water treatment. Environmental Technology & Innovation, 32, 103312. 5. Singh, P., & Gupta, N. (2025). Performance evaluation of natural filter media for dairy wastewater treatment. Journal of Environmental Management, 356, 120145. 6. Rahman, M.A., Islam, M.S., & Hossain, M.M. (2025). Optimization of agricultural waste-based filtration systems for dairy effluent treatment. Water Science and Technology, 91(4), 1125–1138. 7. Patel, V., Desai, N., & Shah, M. (2025). Low-cost filtration system using coconut husk and sugarcane bagasse for dairy wastewater treatment. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 32(8), 15478–15492. 8. Ahmed, S., Rahman, M., & Hossain, K. (2025). Role of limestone in enhancing nutrient removal from dairy wastewater. Ecological Engineering, 203, 107145. 9. Das, S., & Chakraborty, A. (2025). Comparative study of agricultural waste-derived biofilters for industrial wastewater treatment. Bioresource Technology, 402, 130981. 10. Chen, L., Wang, Y., & Zhang, H. (2024). Filtration mechanisms of agricultural waste-based media for wastewater treatment applications. Separation and Purification Technology, 337, 126443.
Publication Date
5/22/2026
Peer Review Type
Double-Blind Peer Review
Review Rounds: 2
Documents
Article Views
0
Total views since publication
PDF Downloads
2
Total downloads since publication
Geographic Reach
5
Digital Preservation: This article is permanently archived on Zenodo and complies with all data preservation standards across major indexing platforms.
Plagiarism Screening
This manuscript has been checked for plagiarism using TurnitinPlagiarismChecker software.
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest related to this research work.
Funding Information
No funding information available for this research.
Related research in the same subject area
Loading similar articles...