The textile industry generates a large amount of wastewater containing various pollutants (dyes, heavy metals, salts, etc.), which cause severe problems to the environment. The treatment of these effluents by classical methods (activated sludge and physico-chemical) is very expensive for developing countries. In this context, alternative low-cost technology may be investigated. Among others, the treatment efficiency of a perforated intermittent sand filter was studied on a textile industry effluent in Abidjan. Various filter configurations (perforation area: 150, 300 and 600 cm2) were used. Conductivity, pH and light absorbencies at 436, 525 and 620 nm of the effluent and the filters filtrates were followed up. The relevant results are a decrease of pH from 11 to 6 and 9, desalination and a discoloration of about 45 % of the raw effluent at 436 nm. The best pretreatment of the raw textile effluent was obtained with the perforated intermittent sand filter having 150 cm2. The intermittent filtration of textile industry effluent on a perforated sand filter wise an area of 150 cm2 seems to be a promising alternative for the pretreatment of textile effluent.

The current study aimed to examine the performance of some sand media filters supplied in an intermittent manner and which were filled with crushed shale, laterite and granite for the removal of orthophosphates from wastewater. These materials were selected based on their physicochemical properties and their potential for phosphorus removal. For this purpose, a series of sand filters shaped like a ‘’U’’ was carried out for domestic wastewater treatment. This filter system was made of PVC (polyvinyl chloride) pipe and contained three compartments. Each compartment was composed of two columns with one of them filled with filtration medium (inlet filter) and the other containing the water (sedimentation zone). The influence of the type of the media and their grain size upon the kinetic of phosphorus removal in this system was investigated during two months. Results showed that for all the media filters the phosphorus removal yield increased when the medium grain size decreased. Concerning the type of filter media, filters filled with laterite (FGC) and shale (FGS) showed the best removal yield of orthophosphates and total phosphorus. However, it can be conclude that filters filled with laterite are more suitable for the phosphorus removal in a long time period.