Wastewater from electroplating industries of Karachi

A field investigation has been carried out to quantify and characterise the effluent being discharged from the electroplating industries in Karachi. Seven factories were surveyed and their effluents analysed. It was estimated that the Ni-Cr plating industry was producing a liquid waste amounting to 0.1 to 0.4m3 per Kg of NiCr plated while in the Zn plating industry this value was 6 to 22m3 of wastewater per Kg of Zinc plated. The analysis of the effluent for the parameters such as pH, SS, TDS, COD, CN, and heavy metals (Cu. Co, I-Ig, Pb, Mn, Ni, Cr. Zn, Fe and Cd) showed that the effluent from all the factories except one did not conform to the National Environment Quality Standard (NEQS).