Olive mill wastewater treatment using a simple zeolite-based low-cost method.

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Water Treatment Technologies
• Agricultural Engineering

Background:

• Olive mill wastewater (OMW) is a significant pollutant from olive oil production.
• High organic load and specific contaminants in OMW pose environmental challenges.
• Effective and sustainable OMW treatment methods are crucial for the olive oil industry.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the efficiency of natural materials in treating olive mill wastewater (OMW).
• To identify an optimal treatment process for OMW remediation.
• To assess the suitability of treated OMW (TOMW) for agricultural irrigation.

Main Methods:

• Sequential filtration of OMW through gravel, fine sand, and a cotton/clinoptilolite mixture.
• Post-treatment using activated charcoal (AC) and lime.
• Analysis of contaminant reduction, turbidity, and electrical conductivity (EC).

Main Results:

• The combined treatment significantly reduced key contaminants: 78.0% for [Formula: see text], 92.4% for B, 66.6% for K, 48.3% for P, and 93.3% for total fat.
• Turbidity and EC were reduced by 96.8% and 48.4%, respectively.
• The cotton/clinoptilolite column showed high efficacy due to clinoptilolite's sorption capacity; AC removed organic particles; lime adjusted pH to 5.1.

Conclusions:

• A multi-stage treatment using natural materials, AC, and lime is effective for OMW remediation.
• The method yields environmentally friendly treated OMW (TOMW) suitable for irrigation.
• This sustainable approach addresses the environmental burden of OMW.