wcm.03.2025.541.550

There is a serious impact of heavy metals in waste water which threatens environmental and human health and this therefore encourages a need to find appropriate ways to treat this waste water productively. The paper entails the electrochemical treatment of lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) contaminants out of industrial wastes, which were sampled in the Rustamiya sewage facility in Baghdad, Iraq. The three types of anode materials namely, copper, iron and stainless steel have been tested under different operating variables such as voltage (20-30 V), initial metal concentration (10-25 ppm), the distance between the pair of electrodes (1-4 cm) as well as different pH conditions (4-10). Copper anodes also exhibited the most efficient removal at 88 percent removal of lead and 80 percent removal of cadmium but with the main cause being of Cu (OH) 2 that increases the precipitation of the contaminants. The stainless steel was however suggested to be more sustainable, as it is longer lasting, less toxic and resistant to corrosion. It was also shown that a greater pH value and harder voltages enhanced removal efficiency whereas a greater initial concentration and greater electrode spacing impaired it. Such results raise the possibility of maximized electrochemical techniques towards sustainability in wastewater treatment system in the remediation of heavy metals.