The ZDHC Foundation, which is working to reduce the chemical footprint of the textile and clothing industry, has updated its ZDHC Leather Wastewater Guidelines Addendum to improve the accuracy of testing and reduce the need for confirmation testing.
In tropical locations, naturally occurring organisms can be mistaken for faecal coliforms, thereby increasing the possibility of a false-positive result in wastewater testing. By replacing the test for faecal coliform with an absence/presence test for E.coli, ZDHC says it improves the accuracy of wastewater testing and reduces the need for confirmation testing.
The group makes the update based on information that was brought to light, expert advice and the decision of the Wastewater Council. The update will also be reflected in the ZDHC Wastewater Guidelines V2.0, and apply to all textile and MMCF wastewater.
ZDHC Leather Wastewater Guidelines Addendum was created in January as an addition to the current ZDHC Wastewater Guidelines Version 1.1. They set a single unified expectation for sampling, testing and reporting of industrial wastewater and sludge resulting from leather processing.
