The cationic dye malachite green (MG) and the anionic dye Remazol yellow (RY) were removed from aqueous solutions using electrocoagulation-adsorption processes. Batch and continuous electrocoagulation procedures were performed and compared. Carbonaceous materials obtained from industrial sewage sludge and commercial activated carbons were used to adsorb dyes from aqueous solutions in column systems with a 96–98% removal efficiency. The continuous electrocoagulation-adsorption system was more efficient for removing dyes than electrocoagulation alone. The thermodynamic parameters suggested the feasibility of the process and indicated that the adsorption was spontaneous and endothermic (ΔS=0.037 and −0.009 for MG and RY, resp.). The ΔG value further indicated that the adsorption process was spontaneous (−6.31 and −10.48; T=303 K). The kinetic electrocoagulation results and fixed-bed adsorption results were adequately described using a first-order model and a Bohart-Adams model, respectively. The adsorption capacities of the batch and column studies differed for each dye, and both adsorbent materials showed a high affinity for the cationic dye. Thus, the results presented in this work indicate that a continuous electrocoagulation-adsorption system can effectively remove this type of pollutant from water. The morphology and elements present in the sludge and adsorbents before and after dye adsorption were characterized using SEM-EDS and FT-IR.

Technical and economic criteria were used to evaluate the feasibility of the treatment of an industrial effluent (10 m³/h) for water recovery and reuse. The treatment evaluation included the following: (1) effluent characteristic determination; (2) selection and evaluation of the effluent treatment at lab scale, establishing operating conditions and process efficiency; (3) scaling up the treatment process to the industrial level; (4) treatment plant design and commercial availability analysis of the required equipment; and (5) the costs of the inversion and operation of the plant treatment, cost/m³ for water recovery, and time of investment recovery. The physicochemical characteristics of the effluent exposed the polluted wastewater with sodium chloride salts and colourants, predominating a mixture of tartrazine, Red 40, and brilliant blue from the synthesis of food additives. Other contributions of organic compounds and salts could be in minor content. According to the effluent conditions, a coupled process, integrated with ozonation and reverse osmosis, was indicated to be a treatment for water recovery. Scaling up the plant treatment design resulted in 130 m² of area, producing 7.7 m³/h of clean water. The cost of the effluent treatment was 1.4 USD/m³, with an inversion return of 3.4 years and cost investment of USD 860,407. The treatment process resulted a viable project for water recovery.