Surface treatment activities and waste
Surface treatment. Effluents and regulations

Surface treatment means :

• electrolytic or chemical treatments and coatings ;

• painting and lacquering ;

• thermal and thermochemical treatments ;

• galvanizing or immersion coating in molten metal.

A surface treatment range can be divided into three sequences:

• preliminary preparation consisting of degreasing and stripping;

• main metal deposition or galvanizing process, which gives the part its appearance and/or another technical function;

• finish.

All these operations are accompanied by rinses to remove excess product from the parts.

Discharges from surface treatment (industrial wastewater) are complex because...