Electrochemical treatment and toxicity analysis of vinegar production industry wastewater

Several types of vinegar are produced worldwide using various raw materials and techniques. Due to being an economic and healthy product, vinegar is consumed in great quantities in Turkey. A specific form of wastewater is produced during production, transportation and processing in winegar production facilities. The quantity and content of this wastewater are environmentally and economically important. Improper and insufficient treatment of these wastewaters may cause serious ecological problems. Vinegar wastewater has high amount of organic load as well as high acidity. Consequently, biological treatment of such wastewater is impractical. In this thesis, electrochemical treatment of vinegar wastewater is performed. In this aspect, removal efficiencies of electrochemical oxidation, electrocoagulation and electro-fenton processes are investigated. The toxicity analysis of the treatment result is performed using Vibrio fischeri bacteria tests. As a result of our analysis, it was observed that electrochemical treatment is a plausible method for vinegar production wastewater treatment with high rates of removal and a lower level of toxicity at the end of the process.