Characterization and Environment Risk Assessment of Galvanic Sludge

Abstract

Galvanic sludge is generated during wastewater treatment by metal plating process and is disposed into the environment through large surface landfills which cause soil and groundwater contamination because of water-soluble heavy metal salts. In this study, galvanic sludge was characterized in order to identify its structural properties and to evaluate the environmental hazards due to climate conditions that may be caused by this industrial waste when it comes in contact with rainwater. The objective of this research was to evaluate three extraction tests, synthetic precipitation leaching procedure (SPLP), American Society of Testing and Material (ASTM) method and rain water leaching for their ability to extracts metals in galvanic sludge. All three metals (Cr, Ni, Zn) leached above the drinking water standards as well as this leaching results higher with rain water thus possibly posing a potential risk to groundwater with climate conditions.