Industrial Water Pollution and Treatment - Can Membranes be a Solution?

Industry is one of the main sources of water pollution since a long time and currently increasing day by day. Industries produces pollutants that are not only extremely harmful to people but also to the aquatic environment. Many industrial facilities use freshwater to carry away waste from the industrial plants into rivers, lakes and oceans. During the last century a huge amount of industrial wastewater was discharged into rivers, lakes and coastal areas. This resulted in serious pollution problems in the water bodies and caused negative effects to the eco-system and human’s life. There are many types of industrial wastewater pollutants based on different industries and each sector produces its own particular combination of pollutants from the processes. The technology for the treatment of industrial wastewater must be designed more specifically for the particular type of pollutants produced. Membrane has made important contributions to the welfare of people with positive quality of life more than the majority of all other disciplines. In this chapter most of the industrial pollutants and their membrane based treatment mechanisms are described.