The waste effluent from Gonoshasthaya Antibiotic Ltd. (GAL) was
treated by photochemical (sunlight) degradation on TiO
$_2$
prepared from ilmenite
(FeTiO
$_3$
). Results showed that after 18 hours of irradiation, 94% of dissolved
organic compounds were degraded to environmentally acceptable products such as
CO
$_2$
, H
$_2$
O and other mineral acids or their salts. The GAL effluent had the
initial chlorine content (CC) of 7024 ppm and this increased to 7842 ppm in
solar water purifier after 18 hours of irradiation. The concentration of total
dissolved solid (TDS) in GAL effluent had 46,000 ppm which was reduced to 2600
ppm after 18 hours of irradiation. The concentration of total suspended solid
(TSS) in the GAL effluent was 455 ppm and after 18 hours of irradiation no
change in concentration was observed. Furthermore, the relative distribution of
the number of compounds decreased with increasing irradiation time.
