Abstract

The reclaimed-water used for this study was the integrated treated tannery wastewater meeting the requirements specified in GB8978-1996 (GB8978-1996 is the Integrated Wastewater Discharge Standard promulgated by People’s Republic of China – see appendix). The influences of the contents of Ca2+, Mg2+ and NaCl along with the feasibility of recycling reclaimed-water for pickling and chrome-tanning were studied. The orthogonal and pilot experiments using split glaubered pigskins have demonstrated that, when the contents of Ca2+ and Mg2+ in the float reached 80mg/L and 30mg/L respectively there were no obvious influences on pickling and chrome tanning. However, when the level of NaCl reached 90 g/L, there was an adverse influence on the rate of chrome exhaustion. The trend of the influences of Ca2+, Mg2+ and NaCl on pickling and chrome-tanning was: NaCl>Mg2+>Ca2+. The rates of chrome exhaustion and the shrinkage temperature of the leathers tanned using the reclaimed-water were 97% and 103.7°C respectively. The physical and mechanical properties of these leathers were better than for the controls. The results suggested a potential for recycling reclaimed-water for pickling and chrome tanning of the split pigskin.