Effectiveness of ozonation process on treating tofu industrial liquid waste: Effect of pH conditions

The tofu industries in Indonesia produce a considerable amount of liquid waste. Most of these tofu industries do not treat waste properly. Liquid waste is channeled directly to the nearest water stream, and thus the values of COD, BOD and TSS are considerably high, which can damage the aquatic ecosystems. According to the Indonesian government rule (Permen LH no.5/2014), the maximum levels of COD, BOD and TSS are 300 mg/L, 150 mg/L, and 200 mg/L. One of alternative methods to reduce these three parameters is the ozonation method. Ozone is able to break down organic components well because of its strong oxidative properties (2.07 mV) and it can decompose into OH radicals which have stronger oxidative properties (2.80 mV). The objectives of this study are to reduce the levels of COD, BOD and TSS of tofu liquid waste into below of the maximum level set by the Indonesian government rule and to study the effect of pH conditions on the effectiveness of ozonation process. Ozonation is carried out under conditions at acidic pH, alkaline pH, and neutral pH, and with a waste concentration of 10%. Ozonation is done by flowing ozone directly into the waste for 120 minutes with an interval of 30 minutes. The levels of BOD, COD, and TSS before ozonation were 1,200 mg/L, 880 mg/L and 600 mg/L. After ozonation, it was found that the levels of COD, BOD and TSS of the waste without any pre- treatment (or acidic condition) was able to be reduced by 46.6%, 44.5% and 41.6%, respectively. Whereas, in neutral conditions the decreases of COD, BOD, and TSS were about 64.3%, 67.0%, and 62.4%, respectively. Optimum ozonation was found in alkaline conditions with the decreases in COD, BOD, and TSS values were about 85.4%, 84%, and 100%, respectively.