The soil and aquatic environment around the tannery and textile industrial clusters were severely affected over the years. Various technological options are being evaluated to address the treatment of these effluents. The efficacy of cleaner technologies such as advanced oxidation and electro oxidation for the mineralization of four different dyes namely CI Acid black 66, CI Acid brown 16, CI Acid brown 75 and CI Acid brown 85 was studied. The mineralization of dyes is almost complete by advanced oxidation involving UV/O3/H2O2, whereas it is only around 60% by electro oxidation. Conversely, the electrooxidation consumes 10-20 kWh/m3 whereas the photo oxidation requires 2500 kWh/m3. Hence electrooxidation followed by photo oxidation could be economical to treat the effluent solutions containing wide range of organics.
