Ranipet and the Palar valley are home to one of India's largest leather clusters, with tanneries in Ranipet, Walajapet, Ambur, Vaniyambadi and Pernambut. SIPCOT Ranipet adds chemical, pharmaceutical intermediate, engineering and ceramic units. Few regions in Tamil Nadu have faced more scrutiny over industrial effluent — the legacy of chromium contamination and Palar river pollution means regulators, buyers and communities watch closely. Intellect Aqua designs, builds, upgrades and operates effluent treatment plants (ETPs) for Ranipet industries.
Every plant starts with a study of your actual effluent, so treatment matches your process, consent conditions and buyer requirements.
Industries We Serve in Ranipet
Tanneries and Leather Processing
Soaking, liming, deliming, pickling, chrome tanning, retanning and dyeing each produce effluent with very different chemistry — high salt, sulphide, chromium, organics and colour. Good tannery ETPs segregate these streams. See leather industry solutions.
Chemical and Pharmaceutical Intermediates
Batch processes create variable, sometimes toxic or high-COD effluent that needs careful equalisation and multi-stage treatment.
Engineering and Ceramics
Oily, suspended-solid and metal-bearing wastewater from machining, washing and glazing.
Food Processing
High-organic effluent treated with biological stages.
Tannery Effluent: Segregation First
The single most effective step in tannery effluent treatment is segregation:
- Soak liquor: Very high salt; often kept separate for solar evaporation or salt recovery
- Lime and sulphide streams: Sulphide must be oxidised before mixing to avoid hydrogen sulphide gas
- Chrome streams: Collected separately for chrome recovery by precipitation and re-use
- General streams: Combined for primary, biological and tertiary treatment
Segregation cuts chemical use, reduces sludge, recovers chrome and makes the downstream ETP and ZLD far more reliable.
Chrome Recovery
Chrome tanning liquor can be collected, precipitated with alkali, settled and redissolved for re-use in tanning. Chrome recovery reduces chemical cost and keeps chromium out of the general effluent and sludge — a serious concern in Ranipet, given the region's history.
Our ETP Design Process
- Map every wastewater stream and batch
- Measure daily and peak flow
- Test pH, COD, BOD, TSS, TDS, chlorides, sulphide, chromium and colour as relevant
- Review consent conditions and CETP or ZLD requirements
- Design segregated and combined treatment with margin
- Share capital cost, running cost and an operating plan
Typical ETP Stages
- Screening and fleshing removal
- Segregated sulphide oxidation and chrome recovery
- Equalisation and neutralisation
- Coagulation, flocculation and primary clarification
- Biological treatment (extended aeration or MBBR)
- Secondary clarification and tertiary filtration
- UF and RO for water recovery
- Filter press for sludge
- ZLD with evaporation where required
Managing High-Salt Soak Liquor
Soak liquor carries most of the salt used to preserve raw hides, and it is the hardest stream to treat. Mixing it with general effluent raises the TDS of the whole ETP and overloads RO and evaporators downstream. We design separate collection for soak liquor, with options such as solar evaporation pans, dedicated evaporation or salt recovery depending on your volume and land. Reducing salt at source — through better hide preservation and desalting before soaking — lowers the load further and saves money across the whole treatment chain.
Controlling Odour and Hydrogen Sulphide
Lime and sulphide liquors release hydrogen sulphide if they meet acidic streams, creating odour and a serious safety hazard for workers. We design sulphide oxidation, controlled mixing and proper ventilation so your ETP stays safe and neighbours stay comfortable.
Working With CETPs
Many smaller tanneries send effluent to a common effluent treatment plant. Even then, in-house pre-treatment — screening, segregation, chrome recovery and equalisation — is required to meet CETP inlet norms. We design compact pre-treatment systems for these units.
Upgrading Existing ETPs
Older ETPs in the cluster often struggle with production growth or new norms. We audit, test and upgrade the limiting stages — far cheaper than building new.
Sludge Management
Tannery and chemical sludge is hazardous waste. We size clarifiers and filter presses for your load, minimise sludge through segregation and correct dosing, and advise on authorised disposal.
Separate Domestic Sewage
Staff toilets and canteens are best treated in a separate STP.
Operation and Maintenance
Our AMC service provides trained operators, chemicals, spares, sludge handling, testing and compliance records.
Why Ranipet Industries Choose Intellect Aqua
- Experience with tannery, chemical and engineering effluents
- ETP, chrome recovery, RO, ZLD and O&M from one team
- ETP capacities from 10 KLD to 2 MLD
- 15+ years of industry experience and 700+ projects
Areas We Serve
We build ETPs across Ranipet, Vellore and Tirupattur districts — SIPCOT Ranipet, Walajapet, Arcot, Arakkonam, Sholinghur, Vellore, Katpadi, Gudiyatham, Pernambut, Ambur and Vaniyambadi.
We also build ETPs in Chennai, Hosur, Salem and Coimbatore.
Get a Free ETP Assessment
Share your processes, daily effluent volume and current setup. We will visit and recommend a solution.