Determination and classification of pollutants in waste water

Abstract

This paper deals with waste waters produced by industrial producers during recent three years. Its main purpose is to evaluate the data monitored from discharges of three leather plants where eight traditional variables (COD, BOD, insoluble matters, pH, and the concentrations of ammonia, total nitrogen, chromium and sulphides) were regularly analyzed and quantified. Chemometrical and statistical methods were approved as very useful tools for characterization and classification of various kinds of water samples considering the environmental and metrological aspects. For this purpose, multivariate (multidimensional) techniques of data analysis and correlation analysis were especially very useful. The mentioned techniques are used in this work to (1) reveal the concealed interrelations of the monitored characteristics of waste waters, (2) compare the results of individual waste water producers and find the most important polluting source during a long time period, and (3) derive some generally valid conclusions regarding the observed results.