Eficacia del método de electrocoagulación a escala de laboratorio para el tratamiento de aguas residuales del camal municipal del cantón La Joya de los Sachas

Abstract

The municipal slaughterhouse of La Joya de los Sachas receives cattle and swine from different livestock farms for slaughtering, producing wastewater with a high pollutant load due to the processes that are handled within the facilities. Therefore, the objective of this research was to evaluate the efficacy of the Electrocoagulation Method at laboratory scale for the treatment of wastewater from the La Joya de los Sachas slaughterhouse. The methodology implemented had a quantitative approach and a 4x2 factorial experimental design was used, with a total of 8 experimental trials. The research was divided into 3 phases corresponding to each specific objective. In phase I, a physicochemical and biological analysis of the wastewater from the Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant was carried out. In phase II, the efficacy of the electrocoagulation method for the treatment of wastewater from the La Joya de los Sachas Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant was evaluated. In Phase III, the results obtained in Phase I and Phase II were compared with the maximum permissible limits established by the Environmental Quality and Effluent Discharge to Water Resources Standard (TULSTA, BOOK VI ANNEX 1). This methodology was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the Electrocoagulation Method, obtaining outstanding removal percentages in Electrical Conductivity (54.82), Chemical Oxygen Demand (68.13), Biochemical Oxygen Demand (68.45), Total Suspended Solids (63.64) and Turbidity (73.80). In addition, Wilcoxon statistical analyses were performed to determine the significant differences observed between the initial conditions and the post-treatment values for all the parameters studied. In this context, it is concluded that the electrocoagulation method has a certain capacity to reduce the pollutant load of the wastewater. However, it does not reach the maximum permissible limit established by the current standard.